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How can I prevent panic attacks from waking me up at night?

10 Answers
Last Updated: 02/21/2022 at 5:12am
1 Tip to Feel Better
United States
Moderated by

Brenda King, PsyD

Psychologist

I treat life changes, women’s issues, and issues of aging using evidence-based treatments with healthy doses of warmth, empathy and humor to enhance healing and growth.

Top Rated Answers
littlebutterfly13
January 9th, 2015 5:54pm
Try to go to sleep relaxed. Maybe meditate or do yoga before bed. Wind your mind down. If stressful thoughts go through your mind, write them down to deal with in the morning, Devote some time to peacefully prepare for bed.
KevinL43
February 17th, 2015 7:16pm
I recommend having a quiet environment, along with a not-too-hot-or-cold environment. Also, having a small glass of water before sleeping helps. Bedtime snacks encourage nightmares, so that wouldn't help. Reading a calm book before bedtime also helps, perhaps a mystery novel, but no creepy books like Stephen King.
PashT007
April 11th, 2015 3:15am
Honestly, you must find the source of your panic attacks. Seek the triggers and try not to let any of this occur before bed.
Anonymous
May 2nd, 2015 4:50pm
Unfortunately, I don't believe that there's a way to prevent panic attack from happening at night while sleeping because you can't really control what happens when you're sleeping. However, what you're capable of doing is to control the panic attack when it happens so that it doesn't aggravate. To do so, just take a deep breath, remind yourself that you're okay. If needed, think of other relaxing or happy thoughts to distract yourself then try to go to sleep again.
KaylaWright1125
May 7th, 2015 2:06am
This is a tough one and it sucks when your in this situation, its happened to me and it scared me, the scariest thing to ever happen. But get plenty of sleep, I've heard that can be one of the reasons and don't stress yourself.
Anonymous
May 28th, 2015 3:29pm
panic attacks can easily by controlled by controlling your breath. By just taking slow deep diaphragmatic breaths you will observe the attack fading away. It can be tough though to catch hold of your breath but it isn't impossible.
TheLovelyPenguin
August 25th, 2015 5:34am
If you've just been awakened by a nocturnal panic attack, the chances of your quickly falling asleep again are low. give yourself a minute to see if you can go back to sleep. but I wouldn't wait any longer than that. The longer you lie there and wonder, the more panic and frustration you'll probably experience. So I suggest you get up and out of bed. Fully wake yourself. Splash some water on your face, have a drink of water, check on the dog, cat,things to help yourself wake up.
globalPoetry83
December 21st, 2015 1:04pm
Try and write down what the problems are. Then split the page, and write the solutions. Once you see this, you might see that no problem is too big an no person to small.
Anonymous
June 7th, 2016 11:20pm
Depending how you get panic attacks some people can prevent it waking you up at night so it really depends on yourself.
UnderstandingEars2252
February 21st, 2022 5:12am
This is not a simple answer. I would start with the core issue, the panic attacks. I would first get my heart checked out for and irregularities and assess my diet to pinpoint any high stress food or drink that may be aggravating your bodies system. I would also minimize the non essential stress in my day to day life. If none of this works I would look into therapy for possible PTSD or repressed memories. I hope this info is helpful I only suggest these things because I never had attacks at night (which sounds horrible) but during the day and these are the things I explored when I was still oblivious to my core issue causing the attacks.