How to Get a Good Night's Rest While Dealing with Anxiety

Anxiety is known to cause poor-quality sleep. You get into bed and plan to sleep, then you’re hit with a flood of anxiousness and racing thoughts. 

Sleep deprivation is strongly linked as an anxiety trigger, so it’s not a sustainable practice. Overcoming your bedtime anxiety is possible with some habit changes and time to set them in motion. 

Exercise

Any anxiety research and resources will tell you that exercise is a great tool for managing anxiety. Exercise helps to slow the production of stress hormones, which can be helpful in reducing your anxiety symptoms. 

Getting in regular exercise can promote not only faster falling asleep, but deeper, more sound sleep. Anxiety often causes insomnia, so adding in moderate intensity workouts can help improve your sleep habits. 

An important consideration for better sleeping habits is the timing of your exercise. Light workouts don’t matter as much, but if you’re doing any moderate to vigorous activity, you want to avoid that at least an hour before your intended bedtime. 

Good Sleep Hygiene

Sleep hygiene is a fancy term used to describe good sleeping habits. Sleep should be an important consideration in everyone’s day to day life, but is especially important when you suffer from anxiety. Consistent, better sleep hygiene can lower your anxious thought rabbit hole that you’re probably prone to.

Main ways to engage in good sleep hygiene include cutting off certain activities before bed. Avoid stimulants like coffee or tea before bed, ideally cutting off consumption after noon. Avoid heavy meals and strenuous physical activity close to bedtime. Screen time should also be limited due to its interference with melatonin release.

Additional considerations include reducing nap times, getting more morning daylight exposure, maintaining a consistent bedtime, and creating a space that promotes sleep (dark, cool, and comfortable). 

Brain Dump

Many people find journaling before bed a successful approach to reduce anxious thoughts. Some theories encourage writing about your daily wins and gratitudes, others about any emotions or triggers that happened that day to release them from your mind.

Taking that one step further, research studies have shown that creating a to-do list for the present day before going to sleep is effective for falling asleep faster. Think about it, what often keeps you awake at night? If it’s all the things you forgot to do today, this may be for you. Instead of writing about your accomplishments for the day or tomorrow’s to-do list, try writing about what you still need to do today so your brain doesn’t feel the need to ruminate over them.

Drink Wisely

Consuming too much caffeine or caffeine too close to bedtime will most likely interfere with your sleep since it’s a stimulant. Caffeine has the potential to stay in your system up to 12 hours after consumption so it’s something to be mindful of. 

Alcohol can also interfere with your sleep cycle by reducing your natural melatonin production. It also continues to metabolize while you sleep. You may feel like it’s relaxing you in the immediate short term, but it won’t promote any quality of sleep.

Both substances, with consistent use, have actually been found to have anxiety-increasing side effects. When choosing your drink of choice, water may be your best option where sleep is concerned. 

Avoid Sleep Aids

If you’re having trouble sleeping, you may find yourself considering a sleep aid. They’re advertised as a way to help you get a good night’s sleep, so how bad can they be? 

What they don’t highlight in advertisements are they unpleasant side effects, including anxiety. They may cause you to feel groggy or drowsy the next morning due the manufactured sleep you get when taking them. You might also experience somewhat of a hangover feeling that next morning. 

If your anxiety is taking a toll on your quality of sleep, seeking treatment is an effective option. Contact us to learn more about anxiety therapy.