Why does my anxiety kick in at night?

You’ve spent all day just getting things done. Been to work, looked after everyone and barely stopped to think and then suddenly…. Hello Anxiety!

You’re finally relaxing and you notice your heart is pounding and chest is feeling heavy, maybe you have an internal trembling or buzzing sensation. Your jaws clenched so tight you wonder how you haven’t cracked any teeth.

But nothings happened? you’re finally resting, so why isn’t your body doing the same?

This is something that crops up regularly in conversations about mental health. ‘I’m absolutely fine through the day but the second I sit down or climb into bed my anxiety goes through the roof!’

There are several psychological and biological reasons why anxiety can feel worse at night and maybe a little understanding can make those evenings a little less scary. Here’s a couple that could be playing a part:

• You’re no longer distracted. The simplest of explanations is your attention. Through the day your attention is being distributed and pulled in loads of directions. Between work, family, home responsibilities, notifications on your phone going off, conversations and just generally functioning all take up mental energy. Your brain is none stop processing all of this, so although you possibly are stressed out you might not have the attention to notice all the little thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations. Then the evening arrives. The home gets quiet, your responsibilities ease, you sit down on the sofa or lay in bed and you begin to notice… your heartbeat feels a little fast, or thudding all of a sudden, there’s tension in your shoulders, neck and jaw, your breathing doesn’t quite feel relaxed or your stomach is unsettled. This is linked to interoception, your brain’s ability to notice and figure out the signals inside the body. When the external distractions disappear, those internal sensations can become much more noticeable.
  

• Your Nervous system is still switched to alert. The autonomic nervous system. this is the part of your nervous system responsible for regulating a lot of the body’s automatic processes, such as the heart rate, breathing, digestion, and parts of the stress response. Two important parts of this system are the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. - The sympathetic nervous system – this helps prepare the body to respond to demands or possible threats and is often associated with the more familiar fight or flight response. - The parasympathetic nervous system – this supports functions associated with rest, digestion, and recovery.

These two systems work together adjusting the body’s activity depending on what is happening around or within you. Stress hormones and other signalling chemicals including adrenaline and noradrenaline, help get the body ready for action. The heart beats faster, muscles tense up and your breathing can change. These are great when you need to react to danger, but not so comfortable when you’re lying under your comfy duvet trying to nod off. So, while you may feel as though you’ve switched off for the evening, your nervous system might still be responding to increased stress and/or demands from the day.

A few tips to try an ease the discomfort.

Notice the sensation without labelling it. Pause. Remind yourself:       I’m noticing a sensation in my body. I don’t have to work out what it means right now.’

This is just to give you a little space between feeling the sensations and reacting to them.

Bring your thoughts into the now. If your thoughts are running away with you, gently reconnect with what’s happening around you. Notice the feeling of the mattress underneath you, the temperature of the room, what sounds you can hear or the weight of the blanket on your body. This helps give your mind something neutral and immediate to notice.

Slow your breathing.

Anxiety can alter our breathing. It can cause us to breathe quicker, more shallow and induce feelings of dizziness or tingling. Try breathing gently, slowly inhale through your nose, then do a little longer exhale through the mouth. Avoid forcing deep breaths or holding your breath if that makes you feel worse. The goal is comfortable, controlled breathing rather than a perfect breathing pattern.

Understanding ourselves is a great starting point for change and sometimes the quiet moments are simply the moments when you finally notice it.