Why can't I sleep at night because of anxiety?
There must be more than a few people who have felt reluctant to face the next morning, such as the day before a test or presentation, or Sunday night. Louise Bond, a writer specializing in health and well-being, explains why anxiety increases at night and you can't sleep.
Can't sleep? An expert reveals why anxiety may be worse at night | Live Science
One of the reasons anxiety is worse at night is simply because we 'do nothing' at night. Many people are active and expend energy during the day, but at night they are less active and have fewer distractions, leading to increased anxiety.
It's a seemingly obvious reason, but it's less well understood, according to Carissa Chamorro, a clinical psychologist in New York who specializes in anxiety and sleep disorders.
A study published in 2015 found that giving fear stimuli during the day and night increased fear responses at night in people without anxiety disorders. It has been suggested that people process information differently at night, making them more likely to become anxious, but the reason for this was not clear in this study.
When humans feel stress or threat, the body produces hormones called adrenaline and cortisol , and changes the body to face the threat. When the threat passes, cortisol and adrenaline levels should return to normal, but experiencing chronic stress or anxiety can leave cortisol levels elevated.
Hormones such as cortisol are linked to sleep and are generally regulated in a 24-hour cycle called the circadian rhythm. Cortisol levels typically peak in the morning and then decline slowly throughout the day, reaching a low in the middle of the night. However, if adrenaline is secreted from daytime to evening, cortisol levels will be kept high, so the timing of secretion of other sleep hormones may be disturbed. Researchers believe that this may be why you have trouble falling asleep at night.
Also, remembering anxiety many times at night can lead to a negative image of sleep, which can lead to a vicious cycle of further anxiety. ``While you may not be able to directly control the cause of your anxiety, there are some things you can control,'' Chamorro said. Avoid stimulants like caffeine, electronics, and stress.
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