Anxiety, Insomnia And Sleep: How to Sleep When You’re Anxious

In this video, Devin Burke, the founder of Sleep Science Academy and the bestselling author of The Sleep Advantage, discusses sleep, anxiety, insomnia, and how you can get better sleep when you feel anxious.

About Sleep

What controls sleep? 

Two biological processes control rest sleep pressure (the desire for sleep) and circadian rhythm, our body’s natural rhythm. These two systems control our wake and sleep cycles.

What Is Anxiety?

Anxiety is fear of the future, praying for what we do not want. This condition is a collection of uncomfortable emotional sensations usually triggered by our thoughts.

Should you have anxiety regarding sleep, it is likely you also are experiencing insomnia.

The Different Types of Insomnia

Onset Insomnia indicates difficulty initiating sleep, and Maintenance Insomnia describes those with issues staying asleep. Both onset and maintenance insomnia can come in one of two forms: transient or chronic.

Transient insomnia is most common and typically arises from a stressful event like losing a job or a loved one. Or, you may be excited about some upcoming event like a wedding or vacation, creating hyper-arousal. These situations can often result in one or two nights of poor sleep.

Transient insomnia can become acute and last for a couple of weeks or more. Lack of treatment can lead to the second mode, chronic insomnia. Experiencing difficulty initiating or staying asleep for three or more nights a week lasting more than three months indicates chronic insomnia.

Most insomnia is psychophysiological or learned insomnia. Then, the poor rest can morph into anxiety about sleep, which can evolve into poor sleep hygiene or harmful behavior and habits like using alcohol, compensating with caffeine, or managing your insomnia in other ways that are not conducive to sleep. 

All of these behaviors can lead to chronic insomnia.

How Do You Get Better Sleep When You’re Anxious?

The number one step to getting better sleep when you’re anxious is to uncover the damaging thoughts and beliefs creating the physical manifestation of anxiety. 

Understanding the thinking creating your anxiety is crucial and essential for resolving insomnia.

Once you identify those thoughts, the second step is to begin working through that thinking. Usually, these thoughts relate to a loss or something like these examples:

  • I’m going to end up on the side of the road. I won’t be able to pay my bills.
  • I’m going to get cancer.

These inflated thoughts can accumulate and become ever more prominent, increasing anxiety. And finally, that anxiety anchors to the bed and bedroom, something you do not want.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness, is an incredible tool for understanding how to become aware of unhelpful thoughts, beliefs, and patterns, along with acceptance and commitment therapy techniques.

Accepting the uncomfortable feelings, anxiety, and insomnia can create a path out of suffering, which places your body in a state where it can get the sleep it needs.

Support Is Critical

Fighting this battle by yourself is exceptionally challenging. If you suffer from chronic insomnia and don’t have a qualified expert to help you, seeking that help is essential. 

But where can you get the trustworthy and practical support you need?

Sleep Science Academy helps countless individuals with chronic insomnia who take sleep medications they would rather not take overcome their insomnia and gain more restful sleep.

Our clients can gain control of their anxieties and insomnia through our unique and empowering methods, like CBT and mindfulness, coupled with many other disciplines and techniques, including guidance from their personal sleep coach.

The knowledge, tools, and skills individuals acquire through Sleep Science Academy’s highly successful science-based program of Dynamic Sleep Recalibration (DSR) provide a clearer understanding of their thoughts and beliefs so they can escape the paradox and reset their sleep system.

Final Thoughts

I hope this information helps open your eyes to a possible solution for your sleep challenges and insomnia. If you know someone suffering from anxiety and insomnia, please forward this information to them. If you have similar issues, contact us to schedule your complimentary sleep consultation with a certified professional sleep coach to learn more about the Sleep Science Academy difference.

You can also join my 100% free online insomnia master class to learn “The 4 Step Strategy to Fall Asleep Faster, Rest Deeper, and Wake Up Refreshed.”

With the Sleep Science Academy 100% cash-back satisfaction guarantee, you have nothing to lose and a lifetime of restful sleep and happy productive days to gain.