Anxiety and sleep

Anxiety often disrupts sleep. Anxiety is your body’s signal to be alert because there’s danger. Staying alert is necessary in situations of risk or danger. So, for example, if you’re about to take your final exams, or if your child is ill, anxiety is normal.  Other less obvious reasons for anxiety can be psychological, and take more work to understand.

Tips for getting to sleep in the face of anxiety:

o   Resist the urge to check your social media before going to bed. What you see is apt to be exciting or upsetting, or perhaps be a call to action, all of which could keep you awake.

o   If you drink coffee or another caffeinated drink, stop your intake well before bedtime.  This allows your body to metabolize the caffeine so it won’t keep you awake. Figure out how late in the day you can drink caffeinated drinks without causing sleep problems.

o   Make sure that you’re comfortable in bed.  Physical discomfort may keep you awake.

o   If your partner snores loudly at night and wakes you up consider finding another place to sleep. Loud noises tend to keep us awake.

o   If you’re lying awake and worrying about something in particular, make an effort to resolve that issue as soon as possible.  You’ll sleep better once you address the problem.

o   If you are suffering from insomnia and have tried all of the above suggestions it might help to talk to a professional about your trouble with sleeping.  Sometimes talk therapy can resolve anxiety.  Also, other conditions such as anxious depression can lead to insomnia.  In that case talk therapy may resolve the issue, and if needed antidepressant medications can also be useful.  Don’t use tranquilizers like Valium or Librium, as these can be addictive and ultimately cause more problems.

Keep working on this issue!  Sleep is important to our health and happieness.