The emotional condition of anxiety sets off feelings of apprehensiveness combined with dread, which different people run into occasionally.
Waking up with anxiety happens often for some people. Many others find it confusing.
The question “Why do I wake up with anxiety?” interrupts your thoughts when tension and anxiety hit your mind at dawn.
Below, we will examine the sources and approaches to handling morning anxiety.
What Is Morning Anxiety?
The early morning experience of stress, unease, and worry creates morning anxiety in individuals.
Your morning anxiety creates such overwhelming feelings that they persist until late evening. The symptoms of morning anxiety transcend nervousness or stress and may create a bodily surge within you.
Common physical symptoms of morning anxiety:
- Racing heart
- Sweating
- Dizziness
- Gagging
Many people feel shaky when waking up because of that sudden surge of anxious feelings. Recognizing morning anxiety represents the beginning of your efforts to control this issue.
Why Do I Wake Up with Anxiety?
Multiple elements can lead to rising anxiety. Knowing them helps you cope.
- Stress from the Previous Day
One main reason for morning anxiety is leftover stress from the day before. Work, personal relationships, or financial worries can stick around at night. This leads to dread as you face a new day.
Your mind often holds onto unresolved concerns, causing anxiety in the morning. Furthermore, waking up in a bad mood may relate to this stress, making your first moments of the day challenging.
- Sleep Disorders
Sleep, as we know, very much coincides with mental health. Conditions such as insomnia or sleep apnea often result in morning anxiety.
Poor sleep affects brain chemistry and makes most people feel an increase in anxiety when they wake up.
- Insomnia: Missing out on quality sleep can make you moody and apprehensive.
- Sleep Apnea: Sleeping with this condition causes difficulties with breathing at nighttime until people who experience it wake up to oxygen levels that have stayed low the whole night.
- Hormonal Imbalances
Specifically, cortisol level changes have a substantial effect on morning anxiety. Testing shows that cortisol functions as the “stress hormone” since it manages your body’s response to anxiety.
Your body and mind may become filled with anxiety when cortisol levels remain elevated during morning hours. The discrepancy may develop because of the following factors:
- Adrenal Fatigue: The high cortisol output from chronic stress creates adrenal fatigue and, thus, develops that morning anxiety.
- Thyroid Abnormalities: Both hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism can impart anxiety-like symptoms, against which the morning jitters fall.
A thorough understanding exists between cortisol levels and anxiety attacks. Higher cortisol levels in the body will both initiate and intensify anxiety symptoms, resulting in increased episode severity.
- Underlying Mental Health Conditions
For some people, waking up feeling anxious implies an undisclosed mental health concern. The following conditions can cause morning unease:
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
- Panic Disorder
- Depression
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
The inability to control their stress levels becomes a factor that produces heightened morning anxiety for people with these conditions.
- Caffeine or Substance Use
Caffeine or nicotine sometimes causes increased morning anxiety in a few people.
Stimulants activate the nervous system, making it restless, jittery, and anxious. Caffeine can energize people in the morning, but it can also cause anxiety.
Can GERD lead to Nighttime Anxiety Attacks?
Affected individuals with GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) develop nighttime stomach problems that result in the experience of anxiety and panic attacks.
Acid reflux develops while resting and thus can start these emotional attacks.
GERD further leads to sleep degradation, which raises anxiety levels. Managing acid reflux through medication, diet, and sleep position may reduce both GERD and nighttime panic attacks.
Seek medical advice for the coexisting occurrence of these symptoms.
How to Combat Anxiety in the Morning?
Having proper techniques to handle morning anxiety becomes essential when anxiety appears upon waking up frequently.
These tried and tested methods should help minimize morning related anxiety:
- Develop a Healthy Morning Routine
Your day will benefit from a structured and peaceful morning schedule that you create. It is beneficial to establish activities that help you unwind through:
- Gentle Stretching or Yoga: This helps release tension and relaxes you.
- Mindfulness Meditation: Focusing on your breath for a few minutes calms your mind.
- Hydration: Drinking water in the morning balances hydration and lowers physical stress.
- Prioritize Good Sleep Hygiene
Better quality sleep will greatly reduce anxiety in the morning. Below are some things to improve sleep hygiene:
- Regular Sleep Habits are Required: Sleep at the same time every day.
- No Caffeine or Heavy Food: Heavy foods and caffeine should be avoided within a few hours before bedtime since they cause sleep disturbances.
- Make It Peaceful for Sleep: Condition the bedroom as calm, dark, and quiet.
- Address Underlying Stress
Management of stress can help prevent such stress from influencing the mornings. Take part in stress reducing activities during the day, such as:
- Exercise: The more exercise, the less anxiety and generally feel better.
- Writing: Writing your thoughts can help clear your mind and decrease stress.
- Get Therapy or Counseling: Visit a professional for guidance and coping strategies.
- Limit Stimulants
Your morning anxiety will reduce when you reduce caffeine intake and other stimulant compounds.
Drinking herbal tea or decaffeinated beverages serves as an excellent choice for relaxation.
Reducing stimulating substances leads to better control of your nervous system functions.
- Consider Medical Intervention
If morning anxiety affects your quality of life, get medical advice. Health professionals evaluate their patients’ situations and might suggest one or more of the following alternative treatments:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) assists patients by changing the course of the manipulators of negative thinking that create anxiety.
- Remedies such as antidepressant pills, together with anti-anxiety treatments, help patients manage their symptoms in exceptional cases.
Conclusion
Waking up with anxiety can be quite draining, but it is manageable. Why do I wake up with anxiety? It might be high cortisol, poor sleep, or mental health issues.
Deep breathing, establishing a pleasant morning routine, or seeking help when needed can all reduce morning anxiety and allow for a day that is most likely calmer and, hopefully, more productive.
You’re not the only one experiencing morning jitters, there are several effective ways to get you feeling okay.
Are you facing morning anxiety? Daybreak Telepsych offers its individualized support in the treatment of anxiety and other conditions through our geriatric and adult psychiatry services. Contact us today to speak with us about an appointment.
FAQs
Q: Why do I shake when I wake up from naps?
Shaking after a nap can happen due to low blood sugar, dehydration, or your body adjusting from rest to wakefulness. Anxiety or stress might also make you feel shaky.
Q: Why do I wake up mad?
Waking up mad can result from poor sleep, stress, or bad dreams. Hormonal changes and anxiety can also contribute.
Q: Why do I feel jittery when I wake up?
Feeling jittery upon waking might be linked to a spike in cortisol or adrenaline, dehydration, low blood sugar, or anxiety. To help, adjust your sleep and manage stress better.
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