Why is my anxiety worse at night?
Anxiety feels worse at night because daytime tasks, people and noise disappear in the dark and quiet, leaving all of your attention on your worries and body sensations. If your body has been stuck in alert mode, lying still makes those sensations stand out.
Try the practice nowWhat happens when you lie down
During the day, tasks, people and noise take up your attention. When you get into bed in the dark and quiet, there is nothing else to look at, so your worries and body sensations get all of it.
Lying still, you notice your heartbeat, your breathing and small body sensations much more than you do during the day. Feeling your heartbeat or breath change in a quiet room can be frightening, but a body in alert mode is not in danger.
Why bedtime feels so loud
When you are tired, worries feel bigger and more urgent than they will in the morning.
Trying hard to fall asleep keeps your body alert, because effort and sleep do not go together. Checking the clock adds pressure.
When your attention stays locked on how awake you feel, your body stays on guard. Attention on a pleasant sensation, like the weight of the blanket, is the opposite of a panic spiral.
Why it shows up after calm days
After weeks of anxiety, your body can stop switching between rest mode and alert mode and stay in alert mode. Because your body holds that state, bedtime anxiety can show up even after a calm day.
Phones in bed keep your brain engaged, and bright light late in the evening can push back your body clock.
This state is trainable with daily practice. Tensing and then releasing one muscle group at a time, known as progressive muscle relaxation, is a long-used way to let your body's guard drop before sleep.
Try Progressive Muscle Relaxation tonight
- Lie down, close your eyes and let each out-breath fall with a gentle sigh.
- Starting with your feet, breathe in fully, tense the muscles there and hold for a count of three, then breathe out and let them go.
- Move up the body the same way: calves, thighs, hips, belly and lower back, chest, shoulders, hands, forearms, upper arms, neck and throat, then scrunch your face.
- Finish by tensing your whole body for five, then let it all go with a big sigh and rest in the stillness.
When to check with a doctor
- You have chest pain, or a heartbeat that stays fast or irregular after you settle (call emergency services for chest pain).
- You get breathless when you lie flat, or your ankles are swollen.
- You have trouble sleeping at least 3 nights a week for 3 months or more (ask about CBT-I).
- You snore loudly, gasp or choke in your sleep, or someone notices pauses in your breathing (signs of sleep apnea).
- You get a creeping or restless feeling in your legs at night that makes you move them.
- You need alcohol or sleeping tablets most nights to fall asleep.
- You feel low or hopeless, or have thoughts of harming yourself (in the US call or text 988, in the UK and Ireland call Samaritans on 116 123).
Practice with the Stateshift app
Common questions
How do I stop racing thoughts at night?
Writing tomorrow's worries or your to-do list on paper before bed gives your mind somewhere to put them.
What makes nighttime anxiety worse before bed?
Caffeine from the afternoon can still be in your system at bedtime and keep your body feeling wired. Alcohol makes you drowsy at first, then breaks up your sleep later in the night.