As soon as your head touches the pillow, does your mind begin to race? Is anxiety over money, work, or family keeping you up at night? Some anxiety is normal, but when emotional issues and anxiety are depriving you of better sleep, you should take action before you get trapped in a vicious cycle.
You don’t need an anxiety disorder diagnosis to suffer from sleep issues caused by anxiety. Anxiety can affect sleep in all kinds of ways. Usually, it causes difficulties in falling asleep. You might have trouble staying asleep or feel anxious all the time if your levels are higher. The risk of waking up at night depends on how anxious you are.
The Sleep-Anxiety Trap
It starts with feeling anxious that you won’t be able to fall asleep. Anxiety begets anxiety and our fears become a self-fulfilling prophecy. We learn from zzz.review that weighted blankets are becoming more and more popular among anxiety sufferers. This is because they are a drug-free way to get better sleep.
These blankets derive their higher weight from beads, micro pellets, grains, or metal chains. Grids separate the material, allowing the pressure to be distributed proportionally. The weight of these duvets ranges from 5 to 35 pounds, and they come in a wide variety of designs. You feel “embraced” by the weighted blanket. It makes you feel calmer and less anxious which will give you better sleep.
How Do Heavy Blankets Help?
Weighted blankets use what is known as Deep Pressure Stimulation (DPS), which works by exerting pressure on the body. The brain releases the happiness hormones serotonin and dopamine as a reaction to the pressure, producing a feeling of calm. As a result, all sorts of good things happen from deep sleep. Your heart rate and blood pressure can drop. Your endorphin levels can increase.
According to a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, sleep deprivation contributes to anxiety by augmenting people’s stress-anticipatory and inducing responses. If you help insomnia, you help your anxiety and vice versa. According to experts, people who get treatment for an anxiety disorder with medication or psychotherapy experience the indirect effect of better sleep.
How to Sleep Better
Apart from buying a weighted blanket, you can practice relaxation techniques, limit your intake of coffee and alcohol, and improve your sleep hygiene. Approaches like yoga and nighttime meditation can help ease anxiety. It’s a good idea to practice relaxation techniques in the morning or early afternoon, not before bedtime, because you’ll be putting extra pressure on yourself.
Sleep after alcohol is less refreshing, more disrupted, and lighter. If you have trouble getting to sleep, don’t drink coffee in the afternoon.
Try not to ruminate over emotional issues. This increases anxiety and prevents you from falling asleep. If you feel anxious in bed, don’t try to force yourself to get better sleep. Get up and do yoga, listen to soothing music, or read.
Last but not least, improve your sleep hygiene. Develop healthy habits like using your bedroom only for sex and sleep, not for watching TV or working. Make sure your bedroom is quiet, dark, and cool. Equip it with white noise if necessary; this can help you fall asleep fast.
Talk to a doctor about therapy if the anxiety isn’t letting up even after you try all of these things. However, such an outcome is not likely. We’re sure that if nothing else, at least the weighted blanket will help you get better sleep!
