Why am I anxious at night before bed?
129 Answers
Last Updated: 02/08/2022 at 8:10pm
★ This question about Anxiety was starred by a moderator on 5/12/2016.
Moderated by
Penny Dahlen, Ed.D., LPC
Licensed Professional Counselor
I am committed to helping you find your passion, heal old wounds, and flow smoother in all aspects of your life path! I use a compassionate listening approach.
Top Rated Answers
Lots of people with sleeping disorders are anxious before bed. You are not alone. Try talking to a doctor. That may help.
There could be a
Number of reasons why you are anxious before bed. You could of had a long day and when you get into bed you just want to relax and all your worries come back from that day. It could also be to do with diet
Like drinking caffeine in the evenings.
Because you feel scared about the things may happen tomorrow and you are wondering the things that you gonna live tomorrow.
Because your brain has become restless, its been used to the days fast paced attitude and constantly having to think about different things. Now you've laid down to rest there is nothing at current your brain has to think about so it looks into the future or the past to find things for you to think about they can be nice or things that make you anxious, sad or angry.
The trick is to distract your brain from thinking and allow you to sleep, I'd try calming music or sounds of nature like rain or bird song.
Usually at night our bodies are weaker, so that's why we're more prone to anxiety at night. So right before bed, your body and mind are tired and needing rest, so they can't fight anxiety as much.
Anonymous
December 23rd, 2015 9:11am
I'm anxious at night because of the things that could happen the next day, I'm scared I will fail and dissapoint people
I know I get anxious before bed because I don't have anything else to think about but my worries. I usually try listening to music, playing a game, or reading when I get anxious and can't sleep so my brain gets distracted.
Anonymous
December 24th, 2015 12:04am
The reason you are anxious before bed may lead back to past nightmares or experiences that relate to going to bed. It may help to retrace your life steps and find the exact root of this anxiety so you can go about resolving the issue.
Anonymous
December 24th, 2015 4:23am
You may be anxious because your mind is focused on the upcoming day.
If you have had nightmares in the past, it would make it very anxiety-provoking to have to fall asleep and realize that you are setting yourself up to have a bad dream. Or, in a different scenario, you get anxious about your thoughts. Almost everyone thinks and thinks about the past events and future plannings right before they fall asleep. This might be making you anxious! Either way; meditating or positive self talk before bed might help calm your mind and center your focus on sleep.
I feel anxiety can creep up on you and especially when you're relaxed and ready to sleep, it's like anxiety is like !!!!HELLOOOOO IM HERE YOU THOUGHT YOU WAS GONNA SLEEP BUT NOO IM HERE!!!! the best thing to do is straight up kill that anxiety voice and think of happy memories and maybe try reading or doing something that will distract you and make you tired.
Many people are anxious before they go to bed because they are unsure of what tomorrow will bring.
Because you have more time for overthinking that you have through day when there are some stuff you need to do. You can try to read a book before bed, it may helps you.
Because maybe you feel like you wasted the whole day or even worse, the past years. Some of us feel anxious about the thought of tomorrow so in the end it's all about over thinking at night and regret and doubts all together which is really bad and sad.
I am unsure about myself, the decisions I make and what my future might hold. These moments or feelings keep getting replayed over and over.
Often times the anxiety can be triggered through trauma in life, something could of happened to you that caused such trauma at night. It is not necessarily the bed that is causing the distress, but the thought of night.
may be you have gone through something before some days and this is making you feel bad.. Or the upcoming day's thoughts are making you restless
whatever it may be it is just a thought. Learning to Meditate and letting go will help
Anonymous
December 26th, 2015 11:37am
If you have a fear of the dark than this is the source of the problem, I really don't know anything about it but I experienced this because of my fear of the dark
Sometimes, if we have had a stressful or just an overly long day, people can feel anxious as they are getting ready for bed. Our thoughts are harder to turn off, especially if we have another eventful day coming up. In order to help rid yourself of some of the anxiety, meditation techniques can be used to help quiet our minds before bed so that we will be able to have a decent amount of sleep.
That happens.At bed time mostly the light is dim or out and there's a silence and calm environment. so the thoughts that make us worry crawl up and eats the brain. And on top there is the tiredness of the whole day's work load and everything.
The best thing to do that time is either u sleep calm or talk to someone or chat for some time or read some th small from one's religious book or one can do nothing but close the eyes and keep lying down. Try those and be happy.
It is a common experience to have anxiety before bed. Often times, this is when we are breaking away from distractions and have time to think. We can start to ruminate about what will happen and worry about things since we finally have some time to ourselves. It can be a very frustrating experience since after all we're just trying to get some sleep! So it can be beneficial to set some time aside to process these anxieties and give them space, and to talk about them with a good listener and use some coping skills, in order to have more space to relax.
Anonymous
December 30th, 2015 6:19am
You are at the end of your day and nothing is keeping you busy, so your empty head fills with worries and makes you anxious.
If you're feeling anxious at night before you go to bed there might be something on your mind bothering you. Try doing things to take your mind off the feeling before you sleep.
because this is when you sit and you start thinking about what's bothering you and what's on your mind
Because you are not well prepared for next day or maybe someone you know you will meet makes you anxious
Anonymous
December 30th, 2015 6:37pm
I am not exactly sure why you are anxious but too help with it try drinking warm milk before you go to sleep or sleeping with a light on.
When we put our head on our pillows, our minds become idle and start to think about EVERYTHING. And anxiety loves to think about the worst possible things. It sucks, I know. That is how the anxiety becomes worse. I like to do the following to help:
Get out of bed and walk around for a bit and drink some water.
Remember to take deep breaths.
Imagine a giant STOP sign in your head. Scream it in your mind too if it helps. You are telling the anxiety to stop.
With the STOP sign in your mind, think of a positive affirmation you can say to yourself. :)
Anonymous
December 31st, 2015 2:53am
At the end of the day our bodies are less focused on being active and going from one responsibility to the next. With all of those activities now on hold, it clears out mental space for all of those background thoughts to come rushing in after being held at bay throughout the day. The mind is now free to focus on all of the things it had to give second place to during the previous hours. And, unfortunately, sometimes this can lead to increased anxiety right when we're ready to sleep.
Perhaps keeping a notebook next to the bed so you can jot down what is making you anxious may help? Knowing you can address those points once you've had a good nights rest may help your body let go of that tension for the evening.
The way I see it, every day is just a challenge. Life is a game, and you have to strive to win it. So each day, you go through so many trials, and sometimes those trials are just too difficult to get through. The create weight on your shoulders, and the make you feel hopeless. I think that writing these things down, all of those negative thoughts, those problems you couldn't solve, just before you go to bed, it really helps you.
Anonymous
December 31st, 2015 9:48am
I know a lot of the time, I get anxious before bed. you just have to find out how to wins yourself down. listen to some music or maybe read a book. counting down from 100 helps me. just do something that helps you relax
Related Questions: Why am I anxious at night before bed?
How do I get over feeling that everyone is going to leave me?Everything in my life is messed up. Motivation works temporarily and I'm not suicidal but feel it's pointless to live like this. What should I do to feel hopeful? How can I get what I need from my doctor? I feel extremely sick whenever I leave my house, what can I do? I have trouble with my school work due to procrastinating. And my anxiety always gets in the way. How do I get things done?A family member thinks I am lying about where I am going but I'm not, what should I do?How do I know if I did the right thing?Is it hard to think critically about something you love?How do I overcome the fear of cashiers?How can I convince myself that my friends don't hate me? I have this irrational fear that they actually hate me.