Insomnia is a symptom that manifests itself in almost all types of anxiety that exist and that in addition to the difficulty in falling asleep and the inability to enjoy a restful sleep, has very detrimental effects on people in their day to day, severely affecting their quality of life and their personal relationships and labor. Insomnia and anxiety tend to feed each other, as this inability to sleep makes us even more nervous and, inadvertently, we cause the body to enter a greater state of tension, thus exacerbating the symptoms of anxiety. In this Psychology-Online article, we are going to explain what the relationship between these two conditions is like and what measures and techniques we can put into practice to achieve overcome insomnia by anxiety. Continue reading!
Index
- Insomnia and nighttime anxiety
- What to do if I have anxiety and cannot sleep
- Remedies to combat insomnia due to anxiety
Insomnia and night anxiety.
The insomnia It is the inability or difficulty to fall asleep and enjoy a good night's rest. This sleep problem is a very common symptom in many psychological and psychiatric disorders, but in many cases it is caused by a state of stress, nerves or occasional anxiety in the presence of some problem or important event in our lives. However, at other times, insomnia can become a chronic condition if it is suffered for a long time and could be a consequence of a generalized anxiety disorder or another disease, so it will be advisable to see a doctor if the difficulty sleeping lasts over time and, in addition, is accompanied by symptoms of anxiety during the course of the day.
Some of the anxiety symptoms that can affect the quality of sleep are those listed below:
- Excess voltage
- Excessive preoccupation with past or upcoming events.
- Being overwhelmed by responsibilities.
- Feeling pressured
- Muscle pains.
- Have catastrophic thoughts.
- Tachycardia.
The relationship between insomnia and anxiety causes a vicious circle to be created and both feed off each other. When suffering from insomnia, the person usually anticipates the problem with sleep, which causes anxiety to increase and the fear of not being able to sleep appears. Additionally, the lack of sleep and tiredness that may be experienced the next day can also increase anxiety symptoms.
What to do if I have anxiety and cannot sleep.
If you have had symptoms of anxiety for a long time, among which is insomnia, and these do not disappear or you feel that you cannot control the situation, it is important that you seek professional help Y you go to a psychologist to help you identify the source of your anxiety and determine if you have an generalized anxiety or other disorder that requires psychological and pharmacological treatment specific. For the diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorderAccording to the DSM-V, the affected person must present symptoms of anxiety, such as apprehension, muscular tension and vegetative hyperactivity, most days for several weeks in a row and persistent anxiety and uncontrollable worry for at least 6 months.
When you have anxiety at night and it makes it impossible for you to fall asleep and rest peacefully, there are a number of tips and measurements that you can put into practice for overcome insomnia due to anxiety:
- Try to deal with negative thoughts and in the event that you are in bed trying to sleep and you cannot fall asleep in a period of time of about 20 minutes, the best thing is that you get up and do something else, such as walking, doing some activity at home that does not involve much effort mental.
- Keep some good sleep hygiene habits, trying to establish a fixed and regular sleep schedule. Always go to sleep at the same time and get up at the same time as well. If you create a rhythm of life and respect it to the maximum, you will help your body to carry out metabolic processes properly and that your health is optimal.
- Control stimuli before going to sleep: avoid doing stimulating activities before going to bed such as watching television, using a mobile phone, tablet or computer.
- Avoid napping during the day, as these can make insomnia more pronounced at night and make it much more difficult to fall asleep.
- Make sure your bedroom is a good place to rest. Avoid noise, maintain a good temperature in the room and make sure it is dark so that the light does not interfere with sleep.
- Avoid consuming stimulating and exciting substances, such as caffeine or alcohol.
- To do physical exercise can help you fight insomnia due to anxiety, since the practice of physical activity makes release endorphins, which will improve your mood and help reduce stress and anxiety. However, it is important that you do not exercise in the last hours of the day, since for the Otherwise, you could activate your nervous system and make the act of falling asleep even more complicated.
- Light dinner and avoid large or very large meals at night. Try to eat healthy and balanced throughout the day.
- Make relaxation techniques, What progressive muscle relaxation, or practicing yoga, Pilates or mindfulness are excellent options to channel stress, achieve peace of mind and, therefore, overcome insomnia due to anxiety.
- The breathing techniques They are also very useful in case of insomnia and night anxiety, as they can help you relax your whole body and prevent possible anxiety attacks. In addition to correct breathing habits, the body receives the amount of oxygen it needs to function properly. We teach you how to learn these techniques in the article Relaxation techniques through breathing.
Remedies to combat insomnia due to anxiety.
Relaxing infusions
One of the best natural remedies to overcome insomnia due to anxiety are infusions made with medicinal plants that have relaxing and sedative properties, such as, for example, valerian, linden, lemon balm, passionflower or chamomile.
You just have to prepare an infusion well loaded with one of these soothing herbs and have a cup before going to sleep, you will see how your body relaxes and you can fall asleep more easily.
Hot water bath
Another thing you can do to relax your body and mind and enjoy a restful sleep is to take a hot bath a few minutes before going to bed. These hot water baths increase body temperature and promote relaxation and sleep. You can enhance its relaxing effects if you add a few drops of lavender or rosemary essential oil the water.
Relaxing essential oils
In addition to adding them to the bath water, another good natural remedy to combat insomnia is to apply a few drops of some relaxing essential oil on the pillow on which you sleep. The lavender or orange oilFor example, they are perfect to help us be less anxious, relax and induce sleep.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to How to overcome insomnia from anxiety, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.
