Why does anxiety make me so tired?
Anxiety makes you tired because alert mode uses energy through a faster heart, tense muscles, and constant scanning for threats. Holding that state for hours is tiring, like a workout you never finish.
Try the practice nowWhat happens in your body
Alert mode is built for running from a threat, so it keeps your body working hard. Worrying all day is tiring work for the mind too. Holding yourself together through regular tasks adds to that mental load, even when you stay in one place and look calm to other people.
Anxiety often disrupts sleep as well, with trouble falling asleep, light sleep or waking early.
Why you feel wiped out
Many people feel wiped out after a panic attack or a stressful event as the adrenaline wears off. Anxiety tiredness is real tiredness.
Why the tiredness keeps returning
After weeks of anxiety, the body can stop switching between rest mode and alert mode and stay in alert mode. Because the body holds that state, the tiredness can show up on days you do not feel anxious.
Tiredness also makes worries feel bigger and harder to handle. When small problems feel heavier, your mind worries more, which keeps the loop going from one day to the next.
This state is trainable with daily practice. Guided rest that does not require sleep, gentle movement, and daylight all help.
Try Non-Sleep-Deep-Rest (NSDR) now
- Lie on your back on something soft and supportive, arms by your sides, palms up.
- Let your body feel heavier, as if gravity were 10% stronger.
- Listen and let the directions wash over you: nothing to reach for and nothing to accomplish.
When to check with a doctor
- You have chest pain, or you faint (call emergency services).
- You have been tired most days for more than 4 weeks.
- It comes with weight loss, fever, night sweats or a new lump.
- You are pale, short of breath or your heart races with little effort.
- You are very thirsty, pee a lot, or feel cold with weight gain and constipation.
- You snore loudly or gasp in your sleep (signs of sleep apnea).
- You feel low or have lost interest in things (if you 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
What else can cause fatigue?
Tiredness that lasts for weeks has many possible causes, including low iron, an underactive thyroid, diabetes, sleep apnea and depression.