If you suffer from anxiety, your mind might interpret this hormonal surge as an impending danger, which can kick into motion the snowball of negative thoughts and worries. Therefore, if you are prone to anxiety, you may find yourself waking up and immediately feeling overwhelmed with an all-consuming uneasiness.
The natural response. Waking up with anxiety can be a challenging way to start your day. The feeling of unease or worry in the morning may stem from various factors, including heightened cortisol, often known as the stress hormone. These elevated cortisol levels can be more prevalent in individuals experiencing stress.
We wake up feeling intense because of the stored up Cortisol levels throughout the night, which makes us feel anxious, so our bodies continue to pump out Cortisol, which creates more anxiety, which produces more cortisol, which causes us to feel more anxious, etc.
Sleep dread is a severe fear of sleeping, and this could be down to many things including continuous nightmares, a struggle to get to sleep, and a general feeling of anxiety before bedtime.
Are you always waiting for disaster to strike or excessively worried about things such as health, money, family, work, or school? If so, you may have a type of anxiety disorder called generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). GAD can make daily life feel like a constant state of worry, fear, and dread.
Usually, your cortisol levels spike after you wake up. It may be that your body overreacts to the stress hormone and leaves you feeling down in the mornings.
Melatonin (the sleep hormone) secretion peaks. And as the body is preparing to launch us into the day, levels of Cortisol (a stress hormone) are increased. At 3 am, we are not left with any practical coping strategies.
Many people find that their anxiety is at its worst in the mornings. Racing thoughts, panic symptoms and excessive worry can strike as soon as you wake up, even before you have set foot on the floor. If you can relate to this, please be reassured, you are not alone. Morning anxiety is very common.
“If you wake up and begin to experience worry, anxiety or frustration, you likely have activated your sympathetic nervous system, your 'fight-or-flight' system,” explains Dr. Kane. “When this happens, your brain switches from sleep mode to wake mode.
The 5x5 rule states that if you come across an issue take a moment to think whether or not it will matter in 5 years. If it won't, don't spend more than 5 minutes stressing out about it. When your problems need to be put into perspective, the 5x5 rule is a good thing to remember.
The 3 P's stand for Pervasiveness, Permanence and Personalisation. Pervasiveness looks at how much of your life a concern impacts – How big? Permanence looks at how long an issue is going to be of concern – How long? Personalisation looks at how much you feel you are to blame – How much?
First, you may want to start with a simple deep breathing exercise called the 5-5-5 method. To do this, you breathe in for 5 seconds, hold your breath for 5 seconds, and then breathe out for 5 seconds. You can continue this process until your thoughts slow down or you notice some relief.
When this feeling is caused by apprehensive behavior and the accompanying stress response changes, calming yourself down will bring an end to the stress response and its changes. As your body recovers from the active stress response, this impending doom feeling should subside.
Possible causes of anxiety can include genetics, stressful situations, previous traumas, medications, and physical health issues. Not all of the things that cause anxiety are obvious or observable in your daily life. Whatever the cause of your anxiety, know that support is available.
Anxiety is a feeling of fear, dread, and uneasiness. It might cause you to sweat, feel restless and tense, and have a rapid heartbeat. It can be a normal reaction to stress. For example, you might feel anxious when faced with a difficult problem at work, before taking a test, or before making an important decision.
Look at how much time you spend worrying about what you're doing now and how much time is spent thinking about what might happen. 80 per cent of your anxious thoughts might be about 20 per cent of issues, so next time the anxious feeling comes up, stop and ask yourself why you're thinking about this now.
She said: 'Essentially, you tick your way through your five senses and name 5 things you can see at this very moment, 4 things you can hear, 3 things you can feel (like your feet in your shoes, your bum on a chair), 2 things you can smell, and one thing you can taste, even if it's just the inside of your mouth or a sip ...
This technique asks you to find five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. Using this with someone who feels anxious will help to calm them down and reduce their feelings of anxiety.
Benzodiazepines used for the treatment of insomnia include lorazepam (Ativan), nitrazepam (Mogadon), oxazepam (Serax), temazepam (Restoril), triazolam (Halcion) and flurazepam (Dalmane). Another drug used for insomnia is zopiclone (Imovane). This drug is similar to benzodiazepines and has similar side-effects.
“Nightmares and poor sleep can cause people to wake up in the middle of the night and have panic,” Erickson says. “For some people, nighttime panic attacks are what happen when they're extremely stressed or in stressful situations.”
Researchers have found that cortisol is highest in the first hour of waking for people with an increased level of anxiety. This helps explain why you may experience an increase in anxiety in the morning.