Waking up anxiety every morning

Tips for Coping with Morning Anxiety

Given the stress of living through a pandemic, moderate anxiety is common. Waking up in a panic every morning is more troubling, as it sets in before coping mechanisms can be deployed. Morning anxiety has a biological cause: Cortisol, often called the “stress hormone,” is higher during the first hour after waking for people experiencing stress. Sometimes people feel a measure of control when they worry, so they have trouble stopping the cycle.

To learn more, check out the infographic below created by Wake Forest University’s Master of Arts in Counseling program.

Add This Infographic to Your Site

<p><a href="https://counseling.online.wfu.edu/blog/morning-anxiety-tips/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/utep-uploads/wp-content/uploads/counseling-wfu/2020/11/20093258/morning-anxiety-1.png" alt="How to recognize and reduce the onslaught of morning anxiety." /></a></p><p><a href="https://counseling.

 online.wfu.edu" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Wake Forest University </a></p>

Symptoms of and Myths About Anxiety

Many people conflate stress and anxiety, but they’re different. Webster’s defines anxiety as “being uneasy, apprehensive or worried about what may happen,” whereas stress is “mental or emotional tension or strain characterized by feelings of anxiety, fear, etc.” Stress can also be defined as not having the resources to complete a task, while anxiety is usually tied to a perceived threat, real or imagined. Stress may be alleviated by accomplishing the task, but anxiety sticks around, producing a host of physical and psychological symptoms.

Symptoms of Anxiety

Some of the symptoms commonly associated with anxiety are internally physical in nature, which can range from nausea and headache to rapid heart rate and tight chest. Other symptoms are outwardly physical, such as sweating, shaking or having difficulty breathing. There are also symptoms tied to behavioral or emotional tendencies, such as a sense of panic, difficulty concentrating, restlessness and diminished sex drives. Other potential symptoms are fatigue or problems sleeping.

Common Misconceptions About Anxiety

Unfortunately, there are several myths regarding anxiety and how it’s handled. Some prominent misconceptions include worrying is genetic and incurable, anxiety medication is addictive, using distractions or avoiding stressful situations can help minimize the threat of anxiety, and being around supportive people can cure anxiety.

Prevalence of Anxiety

Anxiety has been on the rise the last few years, as 32% of Americans say they’re more anxious than they were the year before. In 2019, two-thirds of Americans were worried about the safety of themselves and their families as well as their finances. Nearly two-thirds had anxiety about their health, and around half were worried about the effects of politics and had anxiety over various interpersonal relationships.

Ongoing anxiety can cause a variety of physical ailments, such as hypertension (high blood pressure), kidney and heart damage and arrhythmia. It can also exacerbate other conditions, such as depression, irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, heart disease, stroke and chronic pain.

General Anxiety Disorder

While occasional worry is a part of life, frequent excessive anxiety about tasks or situations that most people don’t find threatening could be an indication of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Nearly 7 million adult Americans experience GAD annually, per the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Studies also indicate GAD affects women about twice as often as it affects men. Additionally, people with serious or painful medical conditions or substance misuse problems are more likely to have anxiety disorders.

Everyday Anxiety vs. GAD

An individual experiencing everyday anxiety will spend time worrying about a specific event, assignment, or task. They’ll also have trouble sleeping or concentrating during stressful times, and they’ll experience physical aches and pains from specific situations.

An individual with GAD will experience ongoing general worry about vague, often imagined threats that interfere with daily life. They’ll also experience frequent trouble sleeping or concentrating and experience physical aches and pains for more than six months without a specific cause.

Tips for Reducing Morning Anxiety

If a racing heart or upset stomach greets you first thing in the morning, you can do a few things to help ease your everyday anxiety. For instance, you can engage in exercise, which increases endorphins, improves mental focus, and elevates mood. You can also practice meditation or mindfulness, which can improve ability to calm the mind and stop the cycle of anxious thoughts.

Another tip involves limiting stressors, such as waiting to check news or social media, using an alarm clock instead of a smartphone, or taking the time to self-care. Additionally, you can use tactics designed to exert a sense of control, such as daily planning or writing down and “fact-checking” nagging fears. Finally, resources like meditation apps or podcasts focused on decreasing feelings of isolation can be valuable.

Reaching Out Can Help

If anxiety is impacting your sleep, work, relationships or ability to focus, seek professional help. The National Alliance on Mental Illness connects people with professionals in their area. Call 800-950-NAMI or text “NAMI” to 741741. If anxiety is causing suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Sources

https://www.psychiatry.org/newsroom/apa-public-opinion-poll-annual-meeting-2019

https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad/symptoms

https://adaa.org/sites/default/files/July%2015%20GAD_adaa.pdf

https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/myth-conceptions

https://www. frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01684/full

https://www.glamour.com/story/if-youre-waking-up-with-anxiety-youre-not-alone

https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/effects-on-body#1

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/exercise-and-stress/art-20044469

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder.shtml

https://www.womenshealth.gov/mental-health/mental-health-conditions/anxiety-disorders

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/stroke-awareness/202008/can-i-ease-anxiety-practicing-mindfulness

Why Do I Feel Anxious When I Wake Up in the Morning?

Morning anxiety can be caused by factors that contribute to an anxiety disorder, such as excess stress. Talk therapy, medications, lifestyle changes, and self-care strategies may help provide relief.

Do you ever experience racing thoughts or anxiety in the morning before you even have a chance to hit snooze on your alarm? If you do, you’re not alone.

While some anxiety is considered a normal part of life, excessive worrying about daily tasks or situations that others see as nonthreatening may indicate an anxiety disorder.

Although not a medical term, morning anxiety refers to waking up with feelings of stress and worry. If you are dealing with excessive anxiety, worry, and stress in the morning, there’s a good chance you may also have generalized anxiety.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterized by excessive and uncontrolled worry that pervades daily life and occurs frequently for at least six months. People with GAD typically worry about everyday actives such as work, money, family, and health.

The symptoms of morning anxiety often mimic those of generalized anxiety disorder. If you are struggling with anxiety upon waking, you may be experiencing:

feeling restless, “on-edge,” or “wound up”
irritability
fatigue
signs of a panic attack, such as tight chest,
tense muscles, higher than normal heart rate, or difficulty breathing
difficulty concentrating and finding your mind
goes blank
difficulty controlling the worry or nervousness

Morning anxiety can be caused by many factors that may also contribute to an anxiety disorder. Since morning anxiety is a reaction to excess stress and worries, there are several potential causes that may contribute to your symptoms.

The “stress hormone” cortisol is released by the adrenal glands in response to fear or stress. Researchers have studied the cortisol awakening response (CAR) and have found that cortisol is highest in the first hour of waking for people with an increased level of stress in their lives. This helps explain why you may experience an increase in anxiety in the morning.

What you eat and drink first thing in the morning can also contribute to higher levels of anxiety in the early hours of the day. Caffeine and sugar can increase anxiety symptoms. But low blood sugar due to a lack of food can make anxiety symptoms worse.

If you go to bed worrying or wake up during the night with anxious thoughts, you are likely to feel anxious and concerned about your day in the morning.

Living with an anxiety disorder can feel like a never-ending cycle of worry. But it doesn’t have to take over your life. With the right treatment, you can learn ways to cope with your symptoms. Some of the more common ways to treat morning anxiety include:

Psychotherapy

Otherwise known as “talk therapy,” psychotherapy can help you understand how anxiety affects your life. Your therapist will also work with you to develop strategies that decrease the severity of your symptoms. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) looks at the important role of thinking in how we feel and what we do. CBT teaches you new ways of thinking, acting, and reacting to situations that cause anxiety.

Medication

Medications such as antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs can help relieve the symptoms associated with anxiety.

Lifestyle changes

Many lifestyle changes can help you manage morning anxiety, including:

getting enough sleep
limiting alcohol and caffeine (both can trigger
anxiety and panic attacks)
eating a healthy diet that limits processed food
and sugar
reducing stress at work and home

There are also self-care strategies you can use right when you wake up feeling anxious. This includes:

Physical activity

Exercise is one of the best things you can do for yourself in the morning, especially if you are dealing with an excessive amount of worry when you wake up. Any physical activity, such as taking a walk, can:

lift your mood
reduce anxiety symptoms
improve your body’s ability to handle stress
help you relax

Aim to exercise at least five days per week for 30–45 minutes each session.

Practicing mindfulness and meditation

The goal of meditation practice is to be aware, and to observe and notice thoughts, feelings, and body states without reacting to them or believing them to be true.

While it may take practice to get into a mindful state when you wake up in the morning, it can help to reduce anxiety symptoms.

Deep breathing exercises

Deep breathing done first thing in the morning can help take the focus off of your negative and anxious thoughts and turn your focus and energy toward your body.

Challenging negative thoughts

If you wake up with negative thoughts about your day (often called “awfulizing”) challenge them and focus on what you can control. You can keep a journal by your bed and write down what you are grateful for. It’s also a good idea to list at least three things you are looking forward to.

If you’re new to these techniques and you’re finding that managing morning anxiety is a lot harder than you thought, try setting a worry timer. Give yourself a time limit of 10 minutes to experience those feelings. When the timer goes off, move on to your self-care strategies. Though you can’t expect to simply “turn off” your anxiety, this approach allows you to acknowledge your worry and gives you a concrete point at which to move on to self-care.

Even though the symptoms of morning anxiety can feel overwhelming and permanent, they are highly treatable. When you combine professional treatment along with the self-care strategies listed above, you can experience relief from the racing thoughts and worry that invade your mind.

You wake up broken, and the alarm clock makes you sweat. Check yourself, it might be morning anxiety

If your stress level is already going through the roof in the morning; if, just waking up, you already feel incomprehensible anxiety - check yourself against this list. Experts explain the reasons and advise how to cope with anxiety.

Alexandra Gorn | Unsplash

It's okay to start the morning with anxiety every once in a while, licensed behavioral psychologist Rina B. Patel explains in a Huffpost article. An important presentation, a job interview, and even a nice date with a new partner can be troubling. But if your every morning begins with this feeling, it is worth understanding the reasons. Even if it's not a lot of anxiety, but only a slight feeling of being overwhelmed, experts recommend taking care of yourself. So, what are the causes of morning anxiety called by doctors?

Contents of the article

Increased cortisol levels

Cortisol levels in the blood are higher in the morning, and this is normal. Cortisol is injected into the bloodstream to help us wake up—but it can make us feel anxious. This happens when the morning rise in cortisol is superimposed on a general state of stress or overload: in this case, the level of cortisol in the blood is already high, and the morning surge creates an excessive peak, says sleep doctor Alex Dmitriu.

Incorrect sleep patterns

Monday mornings are the best times for cardiovascular disease to peak. An acute reaction to danger, "fight or flight", which makes our heart beat faster, usually releases the body during sleep. But if the level of background stress goes off scale, and every day becomes a new source of anxiety, then sleep does not give a long-awaited rest. And then the morning wake-up call can provoke a real panic attack and even cause a heart attack, which is not at all uncommon.

ADVERTISING - CONTINUED BELOW

Mental health is the cause

Clinical psychologist Lyndon J. Aguiar explains that mental health can determine when you feel anxious. Social anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder can cause morning anxiety, while generalized anxiety disorder or PTSD can cause evening anxiety. A patient who is struggling with addiction will feel extreme anxiety during the hours that he used to set aside for his addiction.

Of course, one should not engage in self-diagnosis - it is better to consult a psychiatrist to make a diagnosis.

The devil is in the details

In addition to these specific causes, the causes of morning anxiety can be: vivid dreams, obsessive nightmares, PTSD symptoms, a life schedule, an over-scale stress level in general. Bad sleep, bad food, inability to cope with stress - and your mornings turn into a nightmare.

How to deal with morning anxiety?

If you wake up with a feeling of anxiety, you have "sucking in the stomach", if you have panic attacks in the morning, start by contacting a psychiatrist (or a psychotherapist; in Russia, a competent neurologist can sometimes help). These morning occurrences can seriously affect the quality of life and the ability to make decisions.

Keep a diary to keep track of your experiences. Write down challenges, successes, and interpersonal interactions that evoke strong feelings. This will help track patterns in the appearance of morning anxiety.
Try diaphragmatic breathing. Inhale for four counts through your nose, hold your breath for four seconds and exhale through your mouth with your lips slightly parted, also for 4 counts.
Lead a calming lifestyle. Try yoga, affirmations, muscle relaxation practices. Include sports in your daily routine - best outdoors.
Follow the routine. Go to bed at the same time. Turn off gadgets and monitors half an hour before bedtime. Pour out negative thoughts in a diary. Meditate. Try a weighted blanket.
See a CBT specialist. This is the method that works best for you. CBT can help you change your response to stress.

Sometimes anxiety can be caused by excessive responsibility: maybe it's about you.

Source

Did you notice something from the list?

"I woke up early in the morning with a feeling of inexplicable anxiety"

My name is Alexander. I am 28 years old. Since childhood, I have not been particularly courageous in dealing with people. Any situation in which it was necessary to somehow prove myself was difficult for me.

During my school years, this turned out to be a poor performance for me, as I was afraid to answer to the class and teachers. When I was called to the board or forced to answer from my seat, I was at a loss. There was a void in my head, I could feel the tension and the way my palms were sweating.

I stayed away while my peers were talking to each other.

I considered myself a complete failure and began to avoid communication. I closed myself in and felt the strongest loneliness

It was then that I first thought about suicide, but, fortunately, did nothing with myself.

Loneliness made me cling to any possible relationship. And I clung. I first met one girl, and she became the meaning of my life. I wanted to spend every second of my time and hers with her. He controlled her and was jealous. Soon, she ran away from me, as my excessive "love" limited her freedom.

This was repeated in future relationships.

My shyness prevented me from leading a fulfilling social life. And my intolerance for loneliness was paradoxically destroying my relationships.

By 26 I was still alone and felt like a failure. While most of my peers had families and prestigious jobs, I was thinking that my life was not going the way I wanted.

My depressive episode recurred.

It became very difficult for me to work and carry out daily activities. I was constantly sleepy during the day, and in the evening it was difficult for me to fall asleep. I woke up early in the morning with a feeling of inexplicable anxiety. I went to work, where I could wander for hours in my hopeless thoughts. As a result, work tasks were idle, and I was already threatened with dismissal.

I didn't have the strength to solve the problems life presented me with. And I again began to think about how to die.

It was terribly hard and painful for me.

I found a psychotherapist on the Internet.

Interested in the description of the profile and the fact that the psychologist works in a scientifically based approach. I didn't want to meet a charlatan.

My condition did not allow me to go to a face-to-face meeting, and I chose a Skype conversation.

Nikolai suggested that I tell the situation. For me, it was not easy. Now I can write a lot about what happened ... In many ways, thanks to therapy. But then I was a tangle of anxiety, irritation and despair.

Gradually the conversation started. I shared my experiences, and it already made me feel better.

After the story and answers to clarifying questions, we began to discuss a plan for further action.

As homework, the therapist suggested that I write down my daily activities: what I do during the day.

This activity helped me understand what activities make my condition worse.

We communicated with Nikolai via Skype once a week. During the sessions, we analyzed my thoughts and behavior, selected appropriate coping strategies.

My condition gradually improved. Yes, sometimes there were deteriorations, but insignificant and short-lived.

After about 10 online meetings, I learned to detach from anxious and depressive thoughts. I have developed the habit of solving problems rather than postponing them.

My situation at work has stabilized. I began to keep up with my work tasks and became more productive.

It became easier for me to communicate with people, and I stopped avoiding communication. Along with this, I became much easier to endure loneliness

And now, when I am alone with myself, I choose pleasurable activities over negative thoughts and feelings.

Learn more