Anxiety at Night: 6 Ways to Find Relief

It’s pretty easy to stay busy throughout the day. Work helps to occupy the mind with appointments, emails, and meetings. After the work day is done, you have to tend to personal matters like appointments, running errands, or making dinner for yourself or your loved ones. But once the hustle and bustle of the day has ended, the quiet of the evening can allow anxious thoughts to grow louder and more demanding.

Unfortunately, many people find that their anxiety increases at night while lying in bed trying to drift off to sleep. If you are looking for relief from those anxious nights, here are six tips to help you get a better night’s sleep.

1. Create a Sleep Schedule and Stick To It

Your sleep should be a priority. It ensures that your body and brain are fully rested and recovered so they can function to the best of their ability every day. Creating and sticking to a sleep schedule and routine can help ensure you get at least eight hours of sleep each night. Set a bedtime alarm and a wake alarm to maintain a consistent schedule. Yes, this even includes weekends. Over time, your body and brain will naturally adjust so that you’ll feel more awake when it’s time to start your day and feel more tired when it’s time to fall asleep at night.

2. Practice Good Sleep Hygiene

On top of sticking to a consistent schedule, having a nightly routine before you go to bed can help calm your mind and prepare it for sleep. Good sleep hygiene means you’re trying to keep and maintain good habits that help you get a good night’s sleep. Here are just a few of the different ways you can practice good sleep hygiene:

• Create the optimal sleep space with comfortable bedding, temperature, and low-lighting

• Limit screen time before bed

• Reduce your caffeine intake

3. Move Your Body

Exercising has been proven to help individuals fall asleep faster and stay asleep throughout the night. All it takes is finding ways to move your body during that day. This can include activities like walking around your neighborhood, attending a class at your local gym, or stretching or doing yoga in the comfort of your own home.

4. Start Journaling

The thoughts causing you to stay up at night have nowhere to go. Give them a place to live instead of being stuck in your head. Writing in a journal can help you release those thoughts. The next time you feel anxious, write your worries down in a notebook. This is a great way to alleviate anxiety, but it can also be a great tool to look back on later. The next morning, you can try to determine what was causing your anxiety or what coping mechanisms worked or didn’t work for you.

5. Try Again

If you find yourself lying in bed awake each night, unable to fall asleep, try again. This doesn’t mean just sitting or lying there hoping you’ll eventually become so exhausted that you’ll fall asleep. Instead, get out of bed and try making yourself a cup of hot tea or reading a book for a bit before trying to fall asleep again.

6. Seek Additional Support

Anxiety is a normal and common feeling that most individuals will experience at some point in their lifetime. When it starts to impact your daily life and routine, it’s a sign that it’s time to reach out for additional support. Lifestyle changes, like the ones mentioned above, can help you find relief from your anxiety. Sometimes, additional support is required so the cycle doesn’t keep happening. It’s time to take control of your anxiety instead of letting it control you. You deserve a restful sleep each night. Reach out today to set up an initial consultation.