Anxiety as a Cause of Insomnia

 If you are the type to wake up during the night with your mind racing over thoughts you have no control over, you may find yourself thinking “what if” a lot and you can’t get back to sleep. You may try to get back into bed in an attempt to get some sleep, but it’s probably already too late and you have let your anxiety get the better of you. You have worried and wondered yourself out of a good night’s sleep.

You may be suffering from anxiety that can overtake your sleep and results in a poor sleep pattern. You may have the anxiety at night or just during the sleep hours. Nevertheless, you cannot get to sleep.   Medical research indicates that there is a high linkage between sleep and anxiety. If you have one condition, you likely suffer from the other. If this is something you suffer from as many as one out of every two nights, then you definitely suffer from anxiety-related insomnia. If you simply turn on the television or radio softly, you will likely have some relief of your anxiety and insomnia. If you have it more often than one out of every two nights, you probably have sleep-related anxiety that needs some management in order for you to be rid of it.  

Anxiety related insomnia can be transient and can be associated with a situational stressor. It can be a presentation at work, a new job interview, a test you haven’t studied for or other simple stressor. Or it can be short term insomnia, lasting under six months and is generally related to a death in the family, an illness or a marriage within the family. Even good anxiety can cause insomnia. Chronic insomnia requires a psychological evaluation to figure out what is going on and is lasts for six months or longer.

You need to remember that anxiety become insomnia which makes you have more anxiety and problems with other psychiatric issues or medical issues. Just being sleep deprived can trigger serious medical problems later on. 

Are you the type that picks one or more things to worry about and to dwell on, and find yourself worrying more about them before going to bed? Is your mind racing all the time, thinking about those things you’re worrying about? Do you think of things you should have done, things you’ll choose to do differently and things you’d wish you would have gotten a second chance on? These are things that will block your ability to sleep comfortably and you will find yourself suffering with poor sleep.  

If left untreated, anxiety can blossom into a full blown panic disorder. This is why you need to see a doctor as soon as you have trouble with anxiety and sleep disorders. There are many brand new medications and natural treatments out there that can be used to treat the insomnia and can make you feel better. If you suffer from anxiety-caused insomnia, there are treatments available that will help you sleep bather and you will suffer from less anxiety as well.