{"id":25286,"date":"2019-11-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.saatva.com\/sleeping-with-anxiety\/"},"modified":"2023-08-28T23:20:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-28T23:20:00","slug":"sleeping-with-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/sleeping-with-anxiety\/","title":{"rendered":"A Doctor’s Advice for Sleeping Better With Anxiety"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do your thoughts start racing as soon as you close your eyes at night? Maybe you’re replaying a conversation you had with your boss that day, or tomorrow’s lengthy to-do list starts running through your head. If you’re one of the more than 40 million Americans dealing with anxiety<\/a>, it may be affecting your sleep\u2014even if you don’t realize it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anxiety and trouble falling asleep can become a vicious cycle, to the point where it’s hard to tell if you can’t sleep because you’re anxious or you’re anxious because you can’t sleep. This isn’t all in your head: Scientists call the relationship between sleep and anxiety \u201cbidirectional,” meaning that sleep problems can trigger anxiety and vice versa. A recent study published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour<\/em> even found that a sleepless night can increase anxiety by up to 30%<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what can you do to sleep better? The first thing you need to do to solve this complicated problem is to understand anxiety and its symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you know if you have anxiety?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Just because you’re stressed or worried, that doesn’t mean you have an anxiety disorder. While we all experience periods of anxiety brought on by outside events, Generalized Anxiety Disorder involves chronic anxiety that often comes on without a trigger. However, life events can increase your risk of developing an anxiety disorder, especially if you already have certain risk factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers are still learning the causes of anxiety disorders. Studies have found that anxiety may run in families. Some scientists also believe anxiety may have a biological basis\u2014meaning it originates in patients’ bodies and isn’t just in the brain. (Learn about how anxiety can cause maladaptive daydreaming<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n