Jun 30 2009
How to Overcome Anxiety and Insomnia
Anxiety and insomnia often go together as let’s face it anxiety isn’t much of a recipe for a good night’s sleep. Anxiety can quite often be the very cause of the insomnia itself, as being constantly anxious and worried will often keep people awake at night. The reverse is often true as well where insomnia leads to anxiety from too many nights without sufficient sleep.
Click Here For The 7 Mistakes That Kill Your Sleep
Insomnia has three different types that are defined by the period of the night in which sleeplessness occurs.
When you go to bed and you can’t fall asleep this is called Early Insomia. You may lay awake all night tossing and turning or you may eventually end up falling asleep after several hours. If you suffer from this form of insomnia then make sure you aren’t taking anything stimulant such as tea or coffee in the last few hours leading up to your bedtime.
The next form of insomnia is called Middle Insomnia. This is where you are able to fall asleep normally but wake up frequently throughout the night. Waking up in the middle of the night is often accompanied be feelings of anxiety. Middle insomnia is common amongst people who suffer from anxiety or depression.
The final type of insomnia is known as Late Insomnia. Late Insomnia is when you wake up too early but you are able to get several hours sleep first. When you awaken too early you don’t feel refreshed by your sleep and it’s quite likely you will feel anxious too. The causes are similar to middle insomnia so it is likely to be caused by anxiety or depression.
Panic attack and anxiety sufferers can become more anxious as a result of suffering from insomnia. Overcoming insomnia can therefore greatly help you in your recovery from anxiety disorders. It may be that the insomnia is a symptom of an anxiety disorder. If this is the case then anything that help ease the anxiety will help with the insomnia too.
Lying in bed tossing and turning often leads people to becoming very frustrated as it’s so annoying not being able to get to sleep. The mind starts thinking about falling asleep and nothing else and the restless thoughts just make the insomnia worse. In this situation the best way to get over the restless thoughts is to try and distract yourself from them. Getting out of bed and doing something else for a few minutes will help distract your mind from the thoughts of not being able to get to sleep. One thing that always seemed to work for me was to get a few minutes of fresh air before going back to bed. You should find it easier to get some sleep after you have distracted yourself for a little while as your mind will be a lot calmer.
The kind of help that you seek should really depend on what is causing your insomnia. If anxiety is the cause of the insomnia then it make more sense to address the anxiety issue. But it would make more sense to seek help with the insomnia if the anxiety is being caused by insufficient sleep. When you suffer from two related problems where one is a symptoms of the other, fixing one of the problems will often fix the other problem as a result.
The good news is that there are proven methods for anxiety and insomnia. For even more information please visit http://www.saybyetopanic.com.
