Anxiety And Sleep: Self-Help Strategies To Become Well-Rested
Fix Your Sleep, Improve Your Overall Life
While some of us may toss and turn some nights, every night can be a restless night for others. If you struggle with falling asleep, you know the feeling of anxiously watching the clock as you worry about not being able to fall asleep and waking up sleep-deprived dragging the next day.
Suffering from both sleep disturbances and anxiety is common because they are interrelated. As with many other psychological conditions, the relationship between sleep and anxiety appears to go both directions. People with anxiety tend to experience more sleep disturbances, but experiencing sleep deprivation can also contribute to feelings of anxiety or worsen anxiety. This can become a cycle that perpetuates both sleep and anxiety issues.
Critical Tasks Our Bodies Undergo During Sleep
During sleep, our bodies undergo many critical tasks: memory consolidation, brain temperature regulation, energy conservation, restoration of neurochemicals, hormonal regulation, and other essential neurocognitive functions.
Research has demonstrated that sleep is critical to our physical and mental health. Chronic sleep disturbance leads to a decline in physical performance, a weak immune system, cognitive decline, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, obesity, substance abuse, and mood disorders such as anxiety and depression.
A Strong Correlation Between Anxiety and Sleep
Too many people are struggling with anxiety and dealing with the life-altering ramifications of anxiety. Anxiety can make even the simplest of everyday activities seem quite difficult. However, while many people who struggle with anxiety are aware that it can make lifestyle and responsibilities much more difficult, they don’t always connect that anxiety can have a serious impact on their sleep.
There is a very strong correlation between anxiety and sleep. So, if left untreated, anxiety cannot only make it difficult to sleep but can lead to serious sleep disorders including insomnia, and exacerbate the symptoms of anxiety conditions.
Types of Insomnia
Acute Insomnia
Anything that causes stress can lead to acute insomnia. It is associated with an event or stressor that has occurred in a person’s life. Often, these are life-changing events such as the loss of a loved one, a change in employment, a big move, shifts in personal relationships, or work relationships. This type of insomnia is short-term and resolves with time if addressed and worked through. However, individuals who struggle with anxiety may be more prone to acute insomnia.
Chronic Insomnia
This type of insomnia refers to a persistent delay in sleep, fragmented sleep, or both. A distinctive feature of chronic insomnia is performance anxiety, as this person knows they regularly have difficulty with sleeping. Therefore, they begin to worry about their ability to get to sleep, stay asleep, or both.
Comorbid Insomnia
This form of insomnia refers to behavioral or health problems that are frequently seen with insomnia. These can include attitudes and behaviors that prevent sleep. Habitual practices that interfere with optimal sleep, as well as painful conditions that hinder sleep. It can also be related to stimulating medications that make sleep difficult.
Delayed Onset
This form of insomnia is for people who like to stay awake late into the night and wake up later in the day as night owls. Individuals who meet the criteria for this form of insomnia often have a delay in melatonin production. The stimulus that assists them in getting to sleep does not occur until later in the day.
Fragmented sleep
This form of insomnia causes difficulty staying asleep. Short sleepers frequently experience fragmented sleep because their sleep is reduced, and they wake up often for significant periods in the night. Someone with comorbid insomnia may suffer from fragmented sleep and feel depleted. It’s more challenging to wake up feeling refreshed.
Sleep Hygiene Strategies | Focus on Lifestyle Factors
Avoid substances that interfere with sleep, such as alcohol, caffeine, or nicotine. Avoid caffeine at least 6 hours before going to bed.
Exercise regularly, but not too close to bedtime.
Keep your bedroom at a cooler temperature, as your body naturally drops in temperature during sleep hours. Try to mimic that environment that’s comfortable for your body during sleep.
Try not to watch stimulating movies at night or check your work emails at night because your brain will not relax.
Turn off your cell phone and wi-fi. For two weeks, I encourage you to try and be in bed by 10:00 P.M. Honor your natural circadian rhythms by syncing your sleeping and waking scheduled to rise with the sun and begin sleep shortly after dark.
Schedule quiet time before bed.
Limit screen time before bed, or use a blue-light blocking app. It mimics the sun.
If you are a clock-watcher at night, move the clock or turn it away from the bed.
Avoid consuming a heavy meal too close to bedtime. If you get hungry at night, try a light bedtime snack containing protein. Eating heavy makes your body work harder, as it needs energy for all elements.
When you eat heavy foods at night, that’s when your body is trying to down-regulate; not work harder. Making your body work hard by digesting larger amounts of food before bedtime means you’re not helping that process along.
Essential Oils help with sleep. The three essentials oils that bring calm are lavender, jasmine, and rosemary. Studies have shown that when you relax the senses and do things that are pleasurable to the senses, it releases chemicals that help you to relax in general for your body. For example, serotonin and dopamine get regulated.
You have options to control your environment. The bed should only be used for sleep and sex. Our quality of sleep is often affected by our environment. These are simple self-help interventions that could improve your sleeping habits, and in turn, reduce your anxiety.
Tools To ease anxiety and get to sleep
Keep A Sleep Diary | This is a great tool to assess your sleep patterns and track progress. This will allow you to more accurately evaluate details that will be important in addressing your sleep patterns. Every morning record your previous night’s sleep. It is highly recommended that you keep a journal for at least two weeks to spot any patterns interrupting your sleep. The diary will help you determine what factors are interfering with your sleep Please see attached sleep diary below.
Put Your Thoughts To Rest | Spend 10 minutes, 1-2 hours before bedtime, writing down the thoughts that tend to arise at night. Use whatever style works for you to express them. Then in the night, if your mind starts, tell yourself, “I already thought about that, and will have time tomorrow, now’s time to sleep.” Limit-setting with yourself establishes boundaries that you are off-duty during sleep time & insulates your sleep from intrusive thoughts - it’s a skill, and you’ll get better with practice.
Deep Breathing | Belly Breathing | These help your body to cleanse the particles of your brain that are toxic. Our immune system restores our body during our sleep, and deep breathing helps move that process along. You should repeat this process a least ten times.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation | You can do this at night. You start by focusing on your feet and working your way up and slowly tightening and releasing your muscles. This helps you realize how tense you’re. This exercise will help you gain insight into how much stress and anxiety your body is carrying and will help you relax.
Create A Coping Card | Example: Thought: “I cannot get out of bed at 7:30 AM.” Coping Card: I know this will help improve my sleep. I will go to the coffee shop around the corner and read the paper. I enjoy doing this. I will meet with my friend at the Gym at 8:00 am on Mondays and Wednesdays. It is hard, but I am choosing to do it if I want to sleep better. I can handle getting out of bed at 7:30 AM. Create a coping card that fits your thought process and struggle.
When To Consider A Sleep Expert
If the behavioral strategies and environmental controls are not working in conjunction with some behavioral therapies and medication, then something else is happening. I encourage you to seek a sleep expert, consider having lab work done, as well, as thyroid dysregulation, nutrient deficiencies, and hormonal imbalances can contribute to sleep disturbances, anxiety, and depression.
If you notice the below sleep-related problems, please contact your doctor and schedule an appointment. Such problems can include:
loud snoring
stopping breathing, breathing pauses, gasping, or snorting during sleep
falling asleep unintentionally/dozing during the day
a creepy-crawly sensation in your lower legs in the evening along with an irresistible urge to move your legs to get rid of the sensation
very frequent leg jerking during the night
any other unusual new sleep experiences
Conclusion
Become intentional, strategic, and consistent in your efforts – your sleep won’t get better by chance, it will get better by making the right/better choices more often! As you practice this by implementing strategies and investigating patterns, you can design an optimal sleep plan that best meets your sleeping needs.