Like many of you, I\u2019ve also suffered from nocturnal panic attacks, or sleep anxiety, in the past. I was able to eliminate anxiety at night by recognizing and correcting a handful bad habits that caused these sleep issues. With any luck, these steps will help you to stop nocturnal panic attacks as well.<\/p>\n
Let’s dive in!<\/p>\n
Make Sure They\u2019re Nocturnal Panic Attacks <\/strong><\/h2>\nNocturnal panic attacks are, quite simply, panic attacks that occur while we are asleep. They may also occur just as we are drifting off to sleep. Any panic attack that occurs while awake and lucid, such as when we are lying in bed about to go to sleep, is a regular panic attack and should be treated as such.<\/strong> More information on how to stop a regular panic attack<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>can be found here.<\/p>\nNocturnal panic attacks share the same symptoms as regular daytime panic attacks. Waking up from sleep feeling short of breath or with a racing heart are the most common symptoms of nocturnal panic attacks. Before assuming that what you\u2019re experiencing are nocturnal panic attacks, let\u2019s try and rule out some other, similar-feeling possibilities.<\/p>\n
\n- Sleep Apnea<\/strong> \u2013 A potentially serious issue where your breathing starts and stops in your sleep. This can be due to a number of factors like obesity or a narrowed airway.<\/li>\n
- Sleep Terrors <\/strong>\u2013 Also called night terrors, this involves people screaming, flailing, and panicking while still asleep. This can be tied to sleepwalking.<\/li>\n
- Sleep Paralysis <\/strong>\u2013 This state occurs when, while falling asleep or waking up, a person is mentally awake but physically unable to move. It can be a terrifying experience often described as having a weight sitting on one\u2019s chest.<\/li>\n
- Hypnic Jerks <\/strong>\u2013 in involuntary twitch that can occur as we are falling asleep. This often manifests itself as the feeling of falling or tripping in a dream.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Feel free to do some research on any of these, or talk to a medical professional for additional help figuring out the source of your nocturnal anxiety symptoms. If you\u2019re ever worried that the feelings you\u2019re experiencing could be tied to any sort of heart, breathing, or other medical issue, your doctor can run tests (such as utilizing a Holter monitor) to rule out anything serious.<\/p>\n
Once you\u2019re able to determine that it is, in fact, sleep anxiety that you\u2019re experiencing, we can move on to the next step.<\/p>\n
Decrease Stress and Anxiety in Your Everyday Life<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe biggest challenge with nocturnal panic attacks is how randomly they occur, and how little control we actively have over them in the moment. After all, in dreamland, where people can fly and animals can talk, we\u2019re definitely not in the right state of mind to recognize and stop a panic attack. Most of the time, we don\u2019t even realize we\u2019re having a nocturnal panic attack until we\u2019re wide awake, out of breath, and terrified.<\/p>\n
While we can\u2019t always control what goes on in our asleep, we can<\/em> be proactive about decreasing stress and anxiety while we\u2019re awake. For starters, take some time to learn about what anxiety is and why we experience it<\/strong><\/a>. From there, consider decreasing your general anxiety levels through several of the major anxiety prevention methods<\/strong><\/a>. More specifically, this may involve fixing your diet, starting to exercise<\/strong><\/a>, and practicing meditation<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>or yoga<\/strong><\/a>. A lot of the stress we carry during the day can impact the quality of sleep we get, so take this step seriously and try to cut your anxiety at the root.<\/p>\nYou may also wish to speak to a mental health professional or therapist about your anxiety at night. As many of you know, our brain has a tendency to rehash old traumas as new nightmares. Having someone to talk to that can help you heal may have a positive impact on the quality of your sleep.<\/strong><\/p>\nCut Caffeine and Alcohol out of Your Diet<\/strong><\/h2>\nCaffeine, alcohol, and just about any other drug can wreak havoc on our mental health and sleep. Pay attention to the frequency of your nocturnal panic attacks and try to determine whether there is any link between your sleep anxiety and your use of drugs like caffeine and alcohol. For me, this was one of my biggest sources of nighttime anxiety.<\/p>\n
I quit caffeine when I realized how dependent on it I had become and how anxious I felt without it. After a few days of cold turkey quitting caffeine<\/strong><\/a>, I had begun to experience extremely uncomfortable<\/strong> heart palpitations<\/strong><\/a> that lasted about two nights. If you\u2019re a regular coffee drinker, try and take note of whether your caffeine intake has any effect on your nocturnal panic attacks. Do you get them more when you drink caffeine before bed? Or maybe you get them when you miss a few days and are having caffeine withdrawals?<\/strong><\/p>\nAnother drug I\u2019ve linked to horrible sleep for myself is alcohol. I love a good beer as good as the next person, but boy does being drunk ruin the restfulness of my sleep. Depending on how much I drink and at what time, I typically wake up feeling anxious whenever the alcohol buzz wears off. When that happens, due to terrible \u201changxiety\u201d, I\u2019ll toss and turn for hours before I can get back to bed. Additionally, I tend to have horrible<\/em> dreams, and occasionally a nocturnal panic attack, a night or two after binge drinking.<\/strong> Strangely, I\u2019ve found that IPAs tend to give me nightmares more than other types of drinks (although this is purely anecdotal and I have no scientific way to explain it). If you\u2019re going to drink, make sure you hydrate as you go.<\/p>\nAnd, if you think caffeine and alcohol are bad for sleep, consider what any harder drug can do! I\u2019m not saying you have to cut these things out of your life completely, but you should at least experiment a bit to see if you have less anxiety at night without them.<\/p>\n
*Side note \u2013 The worst nightmares I\u2019ve ever had in my life came after drinking Nyquil. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s in that stuff but I hope to never experience another Nyquil nightmare in my life.<\/p>\n
Prepare in Advance for the Following Day<\/strong><\/h2>\nPanic attacks often occur when many smaller, unnoticed stressors add up over time. For many anxious people, nocturnal panic attacks might occur due to their preemptive worrying about the next day. Thoughts like, \u201cWhat am I going to wear?\u201d <\/em>or \u201cWhat will I make for breakfast?\u201d <\/em>can already be bouncing around an anxious person\u2019s head as it hits the pillow. To manage this, it may be a good idea for some people to prepare in advance as much as possible for the following day.<\/p>\nThis could be as simple as utilizing a calendar, planner, or sticky notes, to map out each task of the day. If you go to bed already having an outfit planned, a meal prepped, and a meeting set, it\u2019s just that much less for you to overthink in your dreams.<\/strong><\/p>\nDon\u2019t go to Bed Hungry or After a Big Meal<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Nocturnal panic attacks share the same symptoms as regular daytime panic attacks. Waking up from sleep feeling short of breath or with a racing heart are the most common symptoms of nocturnal panic attacks. Before assuming that what you\u2019re experiencing are nocturnal panic attacks, let\u2019s try and rule out some other, similar-feeling possibilities.<\/p>\n
- \n
- Sleep Apnea<\/strong> \u2013 A potentially serious issue where your breathing starts and stops in your sleep. This can be due to a number of factors like obesity or a narrowed airway.<\/li>\n
- Sleep Terrors <\/strong>\u2013 Also called night terrors, this involves people screaming, flailing, and panicking while still asleep. This can be tied to sleepwalking.<\/li>\n
- Sleep Paralysis <\/strong>\u2013 This state occurs when, while falling asleep or waking up, a person is mentally awake but physically unable to move. It can be a terrifying experience often described as having a weight sitting on one\u2019s chest.<\/li>\n
- Hypnic Jerks <\/strong>\u2013 in involuntary twitch that can occur as we are falling asleep. This often manifests itself as the feeling of falling or tripping in a dream.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Feel free to do some research on any of these, or talk to a medical professional for additional help figuring out the source of your nocturnal anxiety symptoms. If you\u2019re ever worried that the feelings you\u2019re experiencing could be tied to any sort of heart, breathing, or other medical issue, your doctor can run tests (such as utilizing a Holter monitor) to rule out anything serious.<\/p>\n
Once you\u2019re able to determine that it is, in fact, sleep anxiety that you\u2019re experiencing, we can move on to the next step.<\/p>\n
Decrease Stress and Anxiety in Your Everyday Life<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The biggest challenge with nocturnal panic attacks is how randomly they occur, and how little control we actively have over them in the moment. After all, in dreamland, where people can fly and animals can talk, we\u2019re definitely not in the right state of mind to recognize and stop a panic attack. Most of the time, we don\u2019t even realize we\u2019re having a nocturnal panic attack until we\u2019re wide awake, out of breath, and terrified.<\/p>\n
While we can\u2019t always control what goes on in our asleep, we can<\/em> be proactive about decreasing stress and anxiety while we\u2019re awake. For starters, take some time to learn about what anxiety is and why we experience it<\/strong><\/a>. From there, consider decreasing your general anxiety levels through several of the major anxiety prevention methods<\/strong><\/a>. More specifically, this may involve fixing your diet, starting to exercise<\/strong><\/a>, and practicing meditation<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>or yoga<\/strong><\/a>. A lot of the stress we carry during the day can impact the quality of sleep we get, so take this step seriously and try to cut your anxiety at the root.<\/p>\n
You may also wish to speak to a mental health professional or therapist about your anxiety at night. As many of you know, our brain has a tendency to rehash old traumas as new nightmares. Having someone to talk to that can help you heal may have a positive impact on the quality of your sleep.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Cut Caffeine and Alcohol out of Your Diet<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Caffeine, alcohol, and just about any other drug can wreak havoc on our mental health and sleep. Pay attention to the frequency of your nocturnal panic attacks and try to determine whether there is any link between your sleep anxiety and your use of drugs like caffeine and alcohol. For me, this was one of my biggest sources of nighttime anxiety.<\/p>\n
I quit caffeine when I realized how dependent on it I had become and how anxious I felt without it. After a few days of cold turkey quitting caffeine<\/strong><\/a>, I had begun to experience extremely uncomfortable<\/strong> heart palpitations<\/strong><\/a> that lasted about two nights. If you\u2019re a regular coffee drinker, try and take note of whether your caffeine intake has any effect on your nocturnal panic attacks. Do you get them more when you drink caffeine before bed? Or maybe you get them when you miss a few days and are having caffeine withdrawals?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Another drug I\u2019ve linked to horrible sleep for myself is alcohol. I love a good beer as good as the next person, but boy does being drunk ruin the restfulness of my sleep. Depending on how much I drink and at what time, I typically wake up feeling anxious whenever the alcohol buzz wears off. When that happens, due to terrible \u201changxiety\u201d, I\u2019ll toss and turn for hours before I can get back to bed. Additionally, I tend to have horrible<\/em> dreams, and occasionally a nocturnal panic attack, a night or two after binge drinking.<\/strong> Strangely, I\u2019ve found that IPAs tend to give me nightmares more than other types of drinks (although this is purely anecdotal and I have no scientific way to explain it). If you\u2019re going to drink, make sure you hydrate as you go.<\/p>\n
And, if you think caffeine and alcohol are bad for sleep, consider what any harder drug can do! I\u2019m not saying you have to cut these things out of your life completely, but you should at least experiment a bit to see if you have less anxiety at night without them.<\/p>\n
*Side note \u2013 The worst nightmares I\u2019ve ever had in my life came after drinking Nyquil. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s in that stuff but I hope to never experience another Nyquil nightmare in my life.<\/p>\n
Prepare in Advance for the Following Day<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Panic attacks often occur when many smaller, unnoticed stressors add up over time. For many anxious people, nocturnal panic attacks might occur due to their preemptive worrying about the next day. Thoughts like, \u201cWhat am I going to wear?\u201d <\/em>or \u201cWhat will I make for breakfast?\u201d <\/em>can already be bouncing around an anxious person\u2019s head as it hits the pillow. To manage this, it may be a good idea for some people to prepare in advance as much as possible for the following day.<\/p>\n
This could be as simple as utilizing a calendar, planner, or sticky notes, to map out each task of the day. If you go to bed already having an outfit planned, a meal prepped, and a meeting set, it\u2019s just that much less for you to overthink in your dreams.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Don\u2019t go to Bed Hungry or After a Big Meal<\/strong><\/h2>\n
- Sleep Terrors <\/strong>\u2013 Also called night terrors, this involves people screaming, flailing, and panicking while still asleep. This can be tied to sleepwalking.<\/li>\n
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