The blog’s context: Having trouble falling asleep? Is it becoming any worse with all of the COVID-19 news? You might be suffering from Sleep Anxiety. We cover all you need to know about sleep anxiety and associated sleep phobias in this blog article. We will investigate issues such as what sleep anxiety is, what the symptoms of sleep anxiety are, how to get rid of sleep anxiety, how loss of sleep due to sleep anxiety affects mental health, and so on. What is sleep anxiety?
- We are all feeling worried right now. How could we not, with a pandemic spreading devastation outside our doors?
- This concern may appear innocuous, but it is having a far greater impact on your health than you realise.
- Sleep anxiety, also known as Somniphobia, is a dread of falling asleep.
- Going to sleep may appear to be a fairly normal thing to do, but for other people, it may be a terrifying experience.
- In a stressful scenario, such as a pandemic, sleep anxiety may not be entirely unwarranted.
- You are continuously anxious, and you are constantly bombarded with unhelpful news, therefore it is natural for you to have nightmares, which might exacerbate your sleep anxiety.
What are sleep anxiety symptoms? Sleep anxiety may show in a number of ways, and it affects different people in various ways. However, some of the most common sleep anxiety symptoms are as follows:
- Having trouble focusing
- Nervousness
- Having difficulty falling or staying asleep
- Gastrointestinal difficulties
- Worry or restlessness
One of the most frequent sleep anxiety symptoms that you should be aware of is a panic attack. A panic episode caused by sleep anxiety is distinguished by profound and acute fear of falling asleep, which is frequently accompanied by bodily symptoms such as:
- A sense of approaching doom increased heart rate and induced chest discomfort.
- Throat constriction and lack of breath
- Sweating, chills, and heat sweats are all symptoms.
- dizziness or lightheadedness
- A sensation of disconnection, as if nothing were genuine
- In certain situations, you might awaken from a nocturnal or midnight panic episode.
- Nocturnal panic attacks have the same signs and symptoms as regular panic attacks, except they happen while you’re sleeping.
- It might be tough to settle down and fall back asleep after a nocturnal panic episode. This, in turn, can aggravate sleep phobias such as sleep anxiety.
Causes of sleep anxiety Do you ever wonder why you become anxious when you attempt to sleep? Anxiety and sleep are inextricably linked. Sleep deprivation can cause sleep anxiety, and sleep anxiety can exacerbate sleep deficit. Sleep anxiety may have a negative impact on your sleep and, in some situations, induce insomnia. There is insufficient scientific study on sleep anxiety. Nonetheless, there are a range of causes for why this type of worry occurs, particularly at night. You may have the impression that your mind is racing and that you are powerless to stop it. You may be concerned with the concerns of the day or with the items on your to-do list for the next day. This imagined “stress” might cause an adrenaline rush in the body, making sleep difficult.
Sleep and anxiety Though there isn’t enough evidence to support sleep anxiety, there is plenty of study on how worry affects sleep and vice versa. Sleep difficulties are seen in practically all mental diseases, according to the ADAA. Several research has been conducted to investigate the association between cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and sleep quality. CBT is a psychotherapy treatment in which the patient learns to recognise problematic thinking patterns. Once you’ve discovered these patterns, CBT encourages you to fight them and provides strategies for replacing these ideas with more objective ones. According to a 2015 study on the association between CBT and sleep, individuals who responded to CBT improved in terms of both sleep quality and sleep latency (the time it takes to fall asleep). The researchers believe that treating sleep disorders during anxiety therapy can help those who have trouble sleeping.
