What Does Anxiety at Night Feel Like For You?

ManaClash · May 31, 2019

For me nighttime anxiety feels alot Like daytime anxiety +fear of not being able to sleep the night and feeling worse the next day. Worry about things or panicking about stuff or thinking I'll never feel or get better. Sometimes I worry about regular stuff at night also like stuff I have to do tomorrow or next week or Bill's or anything real. Sometimes I worry that I'm loosing my mind and will have to go back to the psychiatric ward or that I'll my suicidal thoughts will come back or if there just ocd.

ManaClash · May 31, 2019

Idk man basically I worry about everything and feel like the worst possible scenario will happen. I got a lot of problems so whatever your feel Ive probably been there especially the last for months it's been rough.

ManaClash · May 31, 2019

Most people who suffer from anxiety suffer from some form of Insomnia.

Brad66 · May 31, 2019

My mind just races, not particularly with worry though. Some times I will just be replaying the last thing that I watched, especially if it was a disappointing sports event.

Counting backwards from 200 works the best for me to stop my mind from racing.

triceps · May 31, 2019

Hi. I'd say around 5-6 nights a week I have little trouble falling and staying asleep. Probably an average of once a week I'll have that racing mind and it eventually leads to a panic attack. Trying to go to sleep is probably the most common time to battle a panic attack for me. When I first wake up and a few hours after is when my anxiety is at it's worst.

ManaClash · May 31, 2019

Yeah I agree the first few hrs of waking is the worst for me Anxiety wise. It's like I'm at war with my own mind.

daysinthesun · Jun 2, 2019

At night, I notice everything. It’s quiet and it’s dark and I notice everything. The way I breathe, little aches and pains. I start wondering about the end of life and it just spirals from that point on. The night is the worst for me because I have to lay there and let my mind take me to terrible places. I start to wonder if I’m insane. Or if I’ll ever feel normal again.

Brad66 · Jun 2, 2019

avocado said:
I feel that. Some days it's waking up that gives me anxiety, other days is trying to fall asleep. But mostly trying to fall asleep. I get a lot anxiety nightmares too. @Brad66 Same, I don't really have worry thoughts, its just miscellaneous stuff then I start worrying because of that. My anxiety just keeps coming because I find it so hard to believe that all I have is just anxiety. I'm afraid I have something worse, and then I go through the mental circus of doubting myself and questioning everything.

Well I think one of the largest hurdles in overcoming anxiety is accepting it and part of that is to stop believing it is such a major mental illness or issue. Believing you have a mental illness can sometimes be the major reason for continued symptoms, or at least you will more vigilantly to notice and hold onto weird thoughts and emotions than someone who doesn't have that belief in themselves.

If you believe something it's going to be true in your mind regardless of whether there is an physiological difference between your brain and a healthy one. The difference will be that you will not dismiss weird thoughts, bad moods, physical symptoms etc and you holding onto them and making them important will constitute the majority of your suffering.

I used to think there was something major wrong with me and that my mind was one bad day away from me being in a ward or snapping. So every sleepless night, bad mood, weird thought, boredom, anxious feeling, and minor depression was being overanalyzed. It was hell. I did that for a good 5 to 6 years straight. Once I broke that cycle and stop believing I had a major issue I started healing.

Now less than a year after I accepted that my anxiety wasn't really that big of an issue I have improved and feel like my old self before my first nervous breakdown. I am more kind to myself and others because of it too.

Cuchculan · Jun 2, 2019

At night it is dark. It is silent. Worse time for most people as you mind has the freedom to think all it wants. If you were awake, during the day, that silence would not be the same. You would, no doubt, have things to do.

ManaClash · Jun 3, 2019

Brad66 said:
Well I think one of the largest hurdles in overcoming anxiety is accepting it and part of that is to stop believing it is such a major mental illness or issue. Believing you have a mental illness can sometimes be the major reason for continued symptoms, or at least you will more vigilantly to notice and hold onto weird thoughts and emotions than someone who doesn't have that belief in themselves.

If you believe something it's going to be true in your mind regardless of whether there is an physiological difference between your brain and a healthy one. The difference will be that you will not dismiss weird thoughts, bad moods, physical symptoms etc and you holding onto them and making them important will constitute the majority of your suffering.

I used to think there was something major wrong with me and that my mind was one bad day away from me being in a ward or snapping. So every sleepless night, bad mood, weird thought, boredom, anxious feeling, and minor depression was being overanalyzed. It was hell. I did that for a good 5 to 6 years straight. Once I broke that cycle and stop believing I had a major issue I started healing.

Now less than a year after I accepted that my anxiety wasn't really that big of an issue I have improved and feel like my old self before my first nervous breakdown. I am more kind to myself and others because of it too.

I always fear that I will never get better and will always have this panic and anxiety. My question is how do you break the cycle of worrying .

Brad66 · Jun 3, 2019

ManaClash said:
I always fear that I will never get better and will always have this panic and anxiety. My question is how do you break the cycle of worrying .

It's likely that fear that is keeping you sick. You will need to find a way to let it go if you want to recover completely. Challenging the fearful thoughts might work if you have enough good times in-between to compare to.

For me losing the belief that I have a serious mental health issue has helped me lose the fear that I'll never get better. When I have bad days I can easily think of them as just normal instead of a symptom of a disorder. So I am not focusing on it and the bad mood passes much quicker.

ManaClash · Jun 3, 2019

Brad66 said:
It's likely that fear that is keeping you sick. You will need to find a way to let it go if you want to recover completely. Challenging the fearful thoughts might work if you have enough good times in-between to compare to.

For me losing the belief that I have a serious mental health issue has helped me lose the fear that I'll never get better. When I have bad days I can easily think of them as just normal instead of a symptom of a disorder. So I am not focusing on it and the bad mood passes much quicker.

Yes I feel fear is keeping me sick but for me I'm trying to get disability so I feel that I do gave a serious mental health condition. I guess just don't let it run your life I understand everyone has good days and bad even people who don't suffer from Anxiety/Panic disorders it's just my bad days are most days and bad doesn't even begin to describe them.

pinkshaylee · Jun 4, 2019

That was the reason I got on the boards tonight. My daytime anxiety has gotten somewhat better, but around 8pm, I feel my anxiety building. My muscles tighten up and start twitching (my normal anxiety cues). I don’t have trouble falling asleep usually, but I have trouble staying asleep, and I need 12 hours in bed to wake up feeling rested. Not sure what to do at this point other than change what time I take my medicine.

Brad66 · Jun 4, 2019

avocado said:
Do you think it's normal to have anxiety and not know why though? I keep waking up too early, like after a few hours of sleep. I get anxiety but have no idea why. I feel like I wake up with weird feelings and thoughts that are just random, and then start worrying about what that could mean. I don't ever get anxious about things that are happening in my life. Are you saying I should just accept that this is what anxiety does? I'm just trying to get a full night's sleep for once.

Yes is it normal to have anxiety for no reason. You can get anxious from something as simple as diet choices or a strange thought.

I had two instances yesterday that I can remember.

Last night I believe I must have had a dream about myself or someone dying bc I woke up suddenly with death anxiety. When I was in my worst mindset with my anxiety I would have added more fear to this by overanalyzing and I wouldn't have been able to fall back asleep. This time it was just annoying and I just let my heart pound and mind race for a few minutes and just relaxed into it. I was able to fall back asleep within 5 minutes. I didn't end up with the best night of sleep but I was able to get enough that today should go just fine.

Also yesterday I went walking with my work friend at lunch and I got a little anxious for some reason. I had a feeling of dread and my fight or flight was telling me that I needed to go somewhere else. But again I just let it be there and focused my attention on the conversation we were having instead of the inner monologue. It passed a few minutes later and I was able to enjoy the rest of the walk just fine.

Here is a really good article for you to read that might help you out: https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/consumer/anxiety-wont-kill-you

ManaClash · Jun 6, 2019

avocado said:
Do you think it's normal to have anxiety and not know why though? I keep waking up too early, like after a few hours of sleep. I get anxiety but have no idea why. I feel like I wake up with weird feelings and thoughts that are just random, and then start worrying about what that could mean. I don't ever get anxious about things that are happening in my life. Are you saying I should just accept that this is what anxiety does? I'm just trying to get a full night's sleep for once.

I get this every morning I just wake up with anxiety. I always have weird or intrusive thoughts they are a symptom of anxiety as much as I can figure out. And no nothing about anxiety or panic seems normal to me. I have a lot of anxiety during the day so I figure it builds up while I'm asleep.

ManaClash · Jun 6, 2019

Brad66 said:
Yes is it normal to have anxiety for no reason. You can get anxious from something as simple as diet choices or a strange thought.

I had two instances yesterday that I can remember.

Last night I believe I must have had a dream about myself or someone dying bc I woke up suddenly with death anxiety. When I was in my worst mindset with my anxiety I would have added more fear to this by overanalyzing and I wouldn't have been able to fall back asleep. This time it was just annoying and I just let my heart pound and mind race for a few minutes and just relaxed into it. I was able to fall back asleep within 5 minutes. I didn't end up with the best night of sleep but I was able to get enough that today should go just fine.

Also yesterday I went walking with my work friend at lunch and I got a little anxious for some reason. I had a feeling of dread and my fight or flight was telling me that I needed to go somewhere else. But again I just let it be there and focused my attention on the conversation we were having instead of the inner monologue. It passed a few minutes later and I was able to enjoy the rest of the walk just fine.

Here is a really good article for you to read that might help you out: https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/consumer/anxiety-wont-kill-you

"When you can embrace anxiety and stay with situations and thoughts that make you anxious, you are retraining your brain to be less reactive to those false thoughts." I find this absolutely terrible advice if I let my thoughts fixate on fears and worries I would never get out of the loop of panic.

Brad66 · Jun 6, 2019

ManaClash said:
"When you can embrace anxiety and stay with situations and thoughts that make you anxious, you are retraining your brain to be less reactive to those false thoughts." I find this absolutely terrible advice if I let my thoughts fixate on fears and worries I would never get out of the loop of panic.

I am the opposite if I fight or try to replace the thought it just gets worse. I can't push back at all.

What Does Anxiety at Night Feel Like For You?

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