At bedtime, do you feel all your anxieties and worries assailing you? If this happens frequently and significantly prevents you from getting a good night’s sleep, you may be suffering. nighttime anxietya disorder that combines sleep disorder and anxiety disorder. A person suffers from anxiety disorders when they experience repetitive, long-lasting anxiety, often unrelated to a real threat but which causes suffering that disrupts daily life.
Anxiety can be marked by psychological symptoms, such as anxiety, nervousness, fear, or difficulty concentrating, but also physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, muscle tension, sweating, or even insomnia. . This disorder can therefore prevent you from falling asleep or encourage waking up at night, and lead to insomnia or poor quality sleep. In order to better learn how to manage nighttime anxiety, psychologist Amélia Lobbé, aka @amelia.psychologue on her social networks, has shared her 10 tips.
Anxiety, insomnia: here are 10 tips to combat nighttime anxiety
Distressing thoughts, nightmares, sudden awakenings, or even insomnia, nighttime anxiety can significantly impact sleep. If you are concerned, don’t panic, psychologist Amélia Lobbé shared in an Instagram post 10 tips to calm your anxieties and spend more peaceful nights.
Exercise every day
To sleep well, the psychologist recalls the importance of practice physical activity every day, and spend time outside rather than staying at home on your phone. Indeed, while sport has many health benefits, it is also essential for mental health. Amélia Lobbé also advises “put the phone in the living room, before going to sleep, in order to reset the circadian rhythm”.
Confide during the day
If distressing thoughts invade your mind at bedtime, the expert recommends “find a caring ear during the day to talk about what’s bothering you”. Indeed, she explains that the night is not the ideal time to find solutions to your problems and rehash them, it is better to face them during the day, when you can have support.
Putting your worries “in the closet” in the evening
In order not to spend the night thinking about what worries us, the psychologist suggests to learn to leave your problems aside overnight, so as not to let them interfere with our sleep. “When evening comes, we place our worries in a drawer in our mind and close this drawer until the next day.”, she declares.
Don’t focus on unpleasant thoughts
In the same vein, Amélia Lobbé advises relax and don’t focus on the negative. “You can also let your upsetting thoughts pass above you, like a cloud, without dwelling on them.”, she explains.
Read a book
If your nighttime anxiety prevents you from falling asleep and you are a fan of reading, the expert recommendstry to read a book. Indeed, according to her, “It’s great for detaching yourself from your thoughts”.
Consider dietary supplements
To relax without resorting to anxiolytics or sleeping pills, the psychologist highlights the interest certain food supplements. She cites for example “melatonin, valerianpassionflower, CBD and hawthorn, which are pleasant alternatives to anxiolytics”. However, you should seek advice from your doctor.
Turn on a red light
The sleeping environment can also play a role in calming nocturnal anxieties according to Amélia Lobbé. In particular, it gives the idea of colored lights to relax. “We can plug in a red light which neutralizes the effects of blue light and helps you fall asleep”, she explains.
Create a safe zone at bedtime
To promote peaceful sleep, there’s nothing like a relaxing bedtime environment. The expert advises focus on positive thoughts in order to create a security bubble, perfect for gently falling into the arms of Morpheus. In particular, she recommends concentrating “our thoughts on a color that is particularly soothing, on a memory that evokes security, on emptiness, on the memory of a soothing and reassuring sensation, then when torpor invades us, we let go and let ourselves slide without resistance in sleep”.
Get up so as not to stay with your anxieties
If, despite all these tips, you cannot combat nighttime anxiety, Amélia Lobbé advises do not remain passive in the dark. “If anxieties arise, we don’t stay in the dark with the ghosts of the night: we get up, we drink a glass of milk or water and we read a few pages of a book, in order to chase away ruminations and bad vibrations , then we go back to bed”, she explains.
Breathe
Finally, if you feel the signs of an anxiety attack during the night, the psychologist recommends breathing carefully to calm down. “In the event of an anxiety attack, practice deep breathing for 5 minutes : we inhale in 5 seconds, we exhale in 5 seconds, and we concentrate on our breath”, she explains. She adds that “after a few minutes, the heart rate calms down, the feeling of oppression subsides, it’s mechanical”.
However, if all of this advice proves ineffective and your nighttime anxiety persists, Amélia Lobbé recommends not neglecting to consult a health professional. “All this does not prevent you from consulting your doctor and a psychologist to do in-depth work and treat anxiety.”, she concludes.
>>> Discover the 10 psychologist recommendations to combat nighttime anxiety
Sources:
- 10 techniques to combat nighttime anxiety – amelia.psychologue
- Understanding adult anxiety disorders (severe anxiety) – Ameli.fr