Table of contents:
- Why does morning anxiety occur when you wake up?
- How to eliminate morning anxiety? - 4 tips
- Other tips for managing anxiety upon waking
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Although it may not seem like it, suffering from anxiety in the morning is quite common in our society today. The morning anxietyIt appears just at the moment we wake up and is accompanied by a series of unpleasant emotions that, undoubtedly, many times predispose us to not having a good day. These unpleasant emotions eventually become different symptoms and psychosomatic responses that our body would emit in situations where we were in some kind of imminent danger and we were forced to make an attack or flight to ensure our survival. Therefore, we can say that people who suffer from morning anxiety wake up every day as if they were in a dangerous situation when nothing was really happening. But why do they experience these sensations if they are not really in danger? How can you combat anxiety when you wake up?
In this Psychology-Online article about anxiety upon awakening: why it happens and how to control it, we are going to introduce you to everything about this disorder.
You may also be interested in: What to do when you have anxiety Index- Why does morning anxiety occur when you wake up?
- How to eliminate morning anxiety? - 4 tips
- Other tips for managing anxiety upon waking
Why does morning anxiety occur when you wake up?
Actually, anxiety is not entirely negative, since finally if we did not experience it we would not be motivated to take certain actions that guarantee our survival. The pathological begins when the danger we intend to face is not real, however, we perceive it as such, which obviously limits us when it comes to trying to want to have a normal life and, of course, affects our emotional well-being.
We can experience anxiety at any time throughout the day, however, there are people who tend to experience it only in the morning at the time they wake up and as the day goes by, the anxiety decreases. This is because cortisol (stress hormone) levels tend to rise in the morning.When the cortisol level is too high, it causes us to experience certain anxiety-related symptoms in the body, such as rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing, trembling, sweating, among others. When we begin to experience these physical symptoms, our mind gives an interpretation to it and we begin to have thoughts related to these annoying symptoms, such as: “I'm feeling bad”, “something bad is going to happen”, “I haven't rested nothing ”,“ again with anxiety ”,“ I will never be able to feel good ”, etc. This causes that we inevitably experience emotions related to these types of thoughts and, therefore, that we increase our bothersome physical symptoms.
How to eliminate morning anxiety? - 4 tips
Next, we are going to give you a series of tips that, if you put them into practice, will undoubtedly help you to regulate your cortisol levels in the morning and, therefore, to control your levels of stress and anxiety:
- Practice breathing exercises: performing breathing exercises in the morning when you just wake up, without a doubt, is a great ally to regulate stress and related emotions. It is recommended that once you have opened your eyes, without getting out of bed, take some deep breaths and gradually, you will notice some relief and a feeling of tranquility.
- Do not smoke in the morning: you should avoid smoking in the morning, since tobacco is one of the main substances that induce anxiety, it can even double the levels of anxiety that you already experience. In the following article, we explain How to combat anxiety to quit smoking.
- Establish adequate sleep schedules: it is advisable to have good sleep habits and respect the established schedules, since otherwise our circadian rhythm is altered, which causes our cortisol levels to increase.
- Avoid dining in excess: it is advisable not to eat copious dinners before going to bed and, on the contrary, that they be light and as healthy as possible. It is also necessary to try to get into bed at least 1 hour after having dinner and not immediately after finishing dinner.
Other tips for managing anxiety upon waking
- Meditation: among the many benefits of meditation, is the fact that it helps to keep our mind more serene and calm, therefore, it is an excellent ally when it comes to reducing our levels of stress and anxiety.
- Getting up early: an effort should be made to get up early enough to get ready and go to work, for example, so as not to be in a hurry early, which obviously increases stress and anxiety.
- Psychological therapy: of course, when you suffer from an anxiety problem, it is necessary to go to a professional, who will be in charge of evaluating us and making a diagnosis of our condition to finally offer us the most appropriate treatment to eliminate our problem and, likewise, increase our emotional well-being.
- Do pleasant activities in the morning: many people the first thing they do when they wake up is turn on the television, radio or look at their mobile. Actually, in the vast majority of cases, the news that we find through these media is negative, so we wake up and the first thing we see or hear is something negative. Although it may not seem like it, this has an impact on our mood, which is somehow altered and focused on the negative. But what can we do? It is advisable to avoid these types of actions and perform those that we find pleasant and positive, such as listening to music that we like, doing relaxation exercises, having a good breakfast, taking a relaxing shower, etc.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Anxiety on waking: why it happens and how to control it, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical Psychology.
Bibliography- de Andalucía, J. Self-help Guide for Depression and Anxiety Disorders. 2013.Available at: