Can't Sleep? How Anxiety Keeps You Up and What Helps

The house is quiet, the lights are off, and your mind decides it’s time to review every worry you have. Tomorrow’s to-do list, a conversation from last week, bills, the kids. The longer you lie awake, the more you worry about not sleeping. Sound familiar?

How anxiety and sleep feed each other

Anxiety keeps your body in “alert” mode, which makes it hard to fall or stay asleep. Then poor sleep makes you more sensitive to stress the next day, which feeds more anxiety at night. The good news is that you can break the cycle from either side.

Habits that help you wind down

• Keep a steady schedule. Go to bed and wake up at about the same time every day, even on weekends.
• Create a buffer. Spend the last 30 to 60 minutes before bed doing something calm, away from work and the news.
• Dim the screens. Put the phone down or across the room.
• Watch caffeine and alcohol. Caffeine late in the day and alcohol at night both disrupt sleep.
• Keep the bed for sleep. If you’re awake for what feels like 20 minutes, get up, do something quiet in dim light, and go back when you feel sleepy.

Calm the racing mind

• Schedule “worry time” earlier. Spend 10 minutes in the late afternoon writing down worries and one next step for each.
• Keep a notepad by the bed. If a thought pops up, write it down and let it wait until morning.
• Try slow breathing. Breathe in for four counts and out for six.
• Relax your body. Tense and release your muscles from your feet up to your face.

Trying hard to sleep usually backfires. Aim to rest, not to force sleep, and sleep tends to follow.

When to get help

If trouble sleeping lasts more than a few weeks, or if worry is affecting your days, it’s worth talking to a professional. Therapy for anxiety, and a specific approach called CBT for insomnia, can help you sleep better without relying only on medication. Talk to your doctor too, especially if you snore loudly or wake up gasping, since other sleep problems may be involved.

NeuroCare PI offers anxiety treatment in Salt Lake City in English and Spanish, in person in Sandy or online across Utah. Request an appointment and start getting your rest back.