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Fallingasleepduring these past few weeksheck, even just convincing myself to go lie in bedhas become a serious struggle.
Adriana Napolitano/Adobe Stock
Other times, my mind seems to pick up the miles of racing that my feet have lost.
Its a frustrating feeling.
This is true whether or notyou have a diagnosed anxiety disorder(or other mental health conditions).
When you feel anxious, your body reacts by going into a fight or flight state.
All of this can keep you up at night.
In an extremely unfair reversal of that rule, a lack of sleep can also heighten stress and anxiety.
The prefrontal cortex starts to lose its connection to [that] deep emotional center, Walker explains.
It happens to everyone even under much less stressful circumstances.
Dont read the news right before bed.
But what youdontwant to do is check the news pre-sleep.
Avoid facing the threat right beforehand.
Youre not going to fix a problem in the hour before bed.
Instead, find something relaxing to do before bed.
Meditating can also be a good idea, with apps likeHeadspaceorCalm.
Or try a technique called"progressive muscle relaxation," Dr. Bazil says.
Make your space as conducive to good sleep as possible.
Help yourself out by reallysetting the scene for good sleep.
Only go to bed when youre actually tired.
If you go to bed too early, before youre sleepy, it allows forruminatingand frustration, Kennedy says.
Distract yourself instead, and let sleep come to you.
5. venture to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
There are lots of reasons this tip might be especially hard to follow.
Or maybe youre an essential employee with an unpredictable work schedule.
Its really just about doing the best you could.
If you wake up at night, do something relaxing to fall back asleep.
Scrolling through your news feeds definitely doesnt count as relaxing.
This is so that your bed doesnt become a place to worry or feel anxious or upset.
Its to ensure the bed gets associated with sleep-conducive states like relaxation and tiredness, Arnedt says.
Dont drink alcohol or caffeinated drinks too close to bedtime.
Arnedt suggests stopping alcohol consumption three hours or more before bedtime, and consuming in moderation overall.
Caffeines stimulating nature can obviously keep you awake far longer than is ideal.
(Heres some more informationon exactly how caffeine affects your sleep and what to do about it.)
Exercise haswell-documented beneficial effectson sleep quality and stress.
Theres so much pressure to get good habits in place and get healthy, Kennedy says.
Its important to take care of yourself…. but its also extremely stressful.
Experiment with other outlets for stress and anxiety.
Working through your worries during the day could also help control those thoughts at night, says Arnedt.
Spend some time fleshing out what youre worried about, he suggests.
Its better to venture to accept it than stress yourself out about it even more.
What it all comes down to is that so much is happening right now andtheres norightway to handle it.
So be extra kind to yourself.
You should be able to say, I feel bad right now.
My body feels shitty.
I dont feel motivated to clean out my closet.
Thats where I am.
I need to make space for that, Kennedy says.
That is a normal reaction to the trauma were all experiencing.
The more you tell yourself that youre experiencing this wrong, the more stressed youll get.
