Morning Anxiety: What It Is and How to Manage It

What Is Morning Anxiety?

Morning anxiety is waking up with feelings of dread or intense fear or worry, sometimes without any obvious reason. “Morning anxiety” is not an official medical term, but it is a real experience that can affect your quality of life and your productivity.

What Are the Symptoms of Morning Anxiety?

Symptoms of morning anxiety differ from one person to the next, but the most common experiences include racing thoughts or feelings of panic. Your emotional symptoms may also be accompanied by physical symptoms such as tightness in your chest, heart palpitations, or a stomach ache.

Mental Health Symptoms of Morning Anxiety

People with morning anxiety may experience one or more of the following mental health symptoms upon waking up:

• Intense fear or worry
• Feelings of panic
• Feeling “jittery” or on edge
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Racing thoughts
• Feelings of doom, dread, or uneasiness

Often, these symptoms have no apparent cause and seem to appear out of nowhere. For example, you might wake up with intense feelings of worry without any obvious reason.

Physical Symptoms of Morning Anxiety

The intense feelings of anxiety can lead to, or be accompanied by, one or more of the following physical symptoms:

• Racing heart or heart palpitations
• Tightness in the chest
• Stomach ache
• Headache
• Tense muscles
• Lightheadedness or dizziness
• Rapid breathing

The root causes of morning anxiety differ from one person to the next, but all are very real, and sometimes very serious, when you experience them first-hand.

What Causes Morning Anxiety?

There are many types of anxiety disorders and several reasons why you might wake up with anxiety. Sleep deprivation and stress are common causes.

Possible underlying causes of morning anxiety:

• Sleep disorders: Sleep issues and morning anxiety often go hand in hand. Sleep deprivation, sleep apnea, insomnia, or a poor night’s sleep may increase your chances of experiencing morning anxiety.
• Alcohol use: Alcohol causes chemical changes in the brain that naturally lead to higher levels of anxiety as it leaves your system. This is such a common source of morning anxiety that it’s often dubbed “hanxiety” by those who participated in binge drinking the night before.
• Underlying medical or physical conditions: Several physical and medical conditions can mirror or cause anxiety. These include thyroid issues, asthma, heart conditions, poor nutrition, caffeine intake, or dehydration. Some research suggests that irregular blood sugar levels may also be an underlying cause.
• Stress: Whether it’s a relationship, job, or some other type of pressure, morning anxiety is not an unusual experience when you’re under tremendous stress.
• Unresolved trauma, grief, or loss: Unresolved emotional issues can lay dormant for years before resurfacing as mental health issues such as anxiety.
• Genetics: Sometimes genetics play a role in mental health, and can make you more prone to experiencing issues such as morning anxiety.

The Science Behind Morning Anxiety

If it seems like morning anxiety is worse than anxiety you experience at other times of the day, you’re not imagining things. Cortisol levels, for people with anxiety, can make the first hour of the day exceptionally challenging.

Cortisol is a hormone that plays an important part in our daily lives. It normally helps regulate stress, control your body’s use of things like proteins and carbohydrates, regulate blood pressure and blood sugar levels, and help your sleep-wake cycle stay in balance.

In healthy people, cortisol levels rise in the morning to help our bodies make the transition from sleeping to being awake.

However, when you’re already managing anxiety, this morning surge in cortisol can intensify those feelings because your body is already in a state of high alert.

Sleep disorders or disturbances can also raise your cortisol levels, adding to the severity of anxiety symptoms you experience.

Cortisol is not usually the cause of morning anxiety. However, your body’s natural spike in cortisol levels during the first hour of the day can intensify symptoms of anxiety.

Fortunately, morning anxiety doesn’t have to be a permanent condition. There are things you can do to help avoid or calm morning anxiety. And plenty of help is available if it negatively affects your daily life.

7 Tips to Help Calm Your Morning Anxiety

If you wake up with anxiety in the morning, try one or more of the tips below:

1. Set tiny goals.
   Instead of getting out of bed to tackle the day, do it to achieve one small goal, such as going to the bathroom, brushing your teeth, or washing your face.
2. Let the sunshine in.
   Open up your curtains and embrace the sunlight. Natural sunlight can help regulate your circadian rhythm (sleep cycle) and lower cortisol levels.
3. Take a power walk. Stretch. Do yoga. Just 5 minutes!
   For some people, even 5 minutes of physical activity can bring quick relief from anxiety.
4. Limit your caffeine intake.
   Opt for a cup of herbal tea or a glass of water instead or morning coffee, which can worsen your anxiety.
5. Try a breathing technique such as “teddy bear breathing.”
   • Lie on your back and put a stuffed animal on your belly button.
   • Place one hand on your chest.
   • Inhale slowly through your nose and feel the teddy bear rise. Don’t let your chest rise, though.
   • Hold your breath for a count of three.
   • Slowly exhale and repeat.
6. Try a grounding technique to separate yourself from your feelings of anxiety. For example, the 3-3-3 rule is a popular technique that can help detach your mind from symptoms such as racing thoughts and overwhelming fear:
   • Name three things you can see.
   • Name three things you can hear.
   • Move three different parts of your body.
7. Get out of bed. Getting out of bed may be the last thing you want to do when experiencing morning anxiety. However, staying in bed can make it worse. So try to get up and out of bed, even for something as simple as taking a few steps across the room.

How to Prevent Morning Anxiety

Below are some suggestions for helping to prevent morning anxiety.

• Make a list or do a meditation at bedtime: Morning anxiety is often related to something you went to bed worrying about. Making a list or doing a bedtime meditation may help to clear your mind and prevent anxiety in the morning.
• Build a consistent morning routine: A consistent morning routine alleviates decision-making when you first wake up. Instead, you can get out of bed and simply start your routine, one small step at a time.
• Make a real effort to get a good night’s sleep: Sleep issues and morning anxiety go hand in hand. Getting a good night’s sleep may help reduce anxiety in the morning (but not always).

• Avoid foods that can trigger anxiety: Try to stay away from things like caffeine, sugar, unhealthy carbs, and alcohol. And drink plenty of water, since dehydration can also trigger anxiety.
• Eat more foods that are known to reduce anxiety: Leafy greens, chia seeds, flax seeds, avocados, and beans are excellent anti-anxiety foods.
• Seek help if morning anxiety persists: Reaching out for professional help may be the quickest and most effective way to prevent morning anxiety from happening to you.

Taking good care of yourself can go a long way toward reducing anxiety. However, an anxiety disorder can sometimes make it difficult for you to take care of your physical and mental health.

How to Know if You Need Professional Help for Anxiety

If morning anxiety is persistent, or if it begins to interfere with your present or future quality of life, then it may be time to seek professional help.

For example, if anxiety (at any time of the day) causes you to miss work or other activities, or inhibits your ability to be productive, these are signs that it’s time to consider professional help.

Getting Anxiety Treatment in Hillsborough County

While anxious feelings can sometimes overwhelm you and cause feelings of hopelessness, there are highly effective anxiety treatments to help you manage it so you can wake up feeling better in the mornings and throughout the day.

At Clean Recovery Centers, we can help you get to the root causes of your anxiety and build a treatment plan to free you from the cycle of anxious thoughts. Whether you have an anxiety disorder or additional co-occurring conditions such as substance use, a sleep disorder, or unresolved trauma, our caring staff is here to guide you through it.

Anxiety can sometimes make it difficult to pick up the phone, but making a call to get help for your anxiety may be one of the bravest – and best – things you ever do for yourself.

At Clean Recovery Centers, we know that life can be complicated and sometimes overwhelming. We’re here to guide you on your journey to better mental health and clean living. Our unique, three-phase approach is unlike any in the Gulf Coast area and helps you understand the root causes of your anxiety. Each of our locations offers housing and has a certified, rapid-resolution therapist onsite. Give us a call today to schedule a personal assessment and learn more about how we can help you manage the physical and mental symptoms of anxiety. Call us anytime at (888) 330-2532.

Get Clean. Live Clean. Stay Clean.

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