Anxiety from Being Tired (& 5 ways to cope)
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OptimistMinds
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Author bio
The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.
In this brief guide, we will look at anxiety from being tired and some ways to cope with this type of anxiety.
Anxiety from Being Tired
Anxiety from being tired is something that people may experience if they are not getting enough sleep or if they have been under extended periods of stress, both of which can take a toll on the mental and physical well-being of the individual.
Anxiety from being tired is something even people without anxiety disorders might experience, and this is something that can go away with regular efforts towards eradicating it.
Anxiety from being tired also needs to be distinguished from just general tiredness that happens because of anxiety, instead of the other way around, and it is also important to note whether one has other symptoms of anxiety so that they know that it is in fact anxiety and not something else that is happening because of tiredness.
Anxiety from being tired may often occur when someone is not getting enough sleep, and this type of anxiety can, in turn, make it really hard to sleep, which can be quite the vicious cycle given that the person will obviously need to sleep to be able to get over the tiredness.
Sleep and anxiety can also be inter-related in other ways and it is a well-known fact that anxiety can create a lack of sleep, which is also why anxiety from being tired is a big possibility.
Anxiety from being tired can also be very hard to deal with and it can make everything can seem like hard work and when someone is experiencing anxiety from being tired, they can also find it much harder to cope with life and the anxiety itself.
The challenges someone normally faces with ease may seem impossible when someone is dealing with anxiety from being tired and research related to this concept shows that being tired affects areas of the brain that help us to process our emotions.
This research has found that those who are more prone to worry a lot about things are more vulnerable to feeling anxious when deprived of sleep, and it may be safe to assume that these people might be more prone to experiencing anxiety when tired.
The fact that anxiety from being tired is very possible when someone is not sleeping very well is even more reason to make sure one gets a good night’s sleep, which is usually bei7-9 hours of sleep each night.
There is also more evidence toward understanding the role of sleep in anxiety from being tired and why being tired due to lack of sleep is something that can often lead to anxiety and not being able to deal with things.
Some Neuroscientists have found that sleep deprivation can lead to an increase in anticipatory anxiety because it directly affects the brain’s amygdala and insular cortex, both of which are regions associated with emotional processing.
When sleep deprivation does this to the brain, this pattern of emotional processing is very similar to the abnormal neural activity commonly seen in anxiety disorders, which explains why anxiety from being tired is something that happens to people often.
This research has also led to the understanding that innate worriers, or those who are naturally more anxious than other people and are, as a result, likely to develop a full-blown anxiety disorder, may be more vulnerable to the impact of insufficient sleep.
Matthew Walker, who is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at UC Berkeley and senior author of the paper, said “These findings help us realize that those people who are anxious by nature are the same people who will suffer the greatest harm from sleep deprivation. If sleep disruption is a key factor in anxiety disorders, as this study suggests, then it’s a potentially treatable target. By restoring good quality sleep in people suffering from anxiety, we may be able to help ameliorate their excessive worry and disabling fearful expectations.”
This study was published in the Journal of Neuroscience, and the results from the study suggest that people suffering from problems like generalized anxiety disorder, panic attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder, are those that may find that sleep therapy is quite helpful to their specific issues.
Similar studies have been done at UC Berkeley as well, where psychologists such as Allison Harvey, has also found that sleep therapy can help not only those that are experiencing anxiety from being tired, but also on patients with depression, bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses.
Being Tired from Anxiety
While anxiety from being tired is very normal, so is being tired from anxiety, in fact, fatigue is often touted as one of the biggest symptoms of anxiety.
While anxiety can result from poor sleep, the opposite is true as well, and it is very possible for a person to suffer from a lack of sleep because of anxiety and being tired as a result of it as well.
When someone feels sleepy all the time, it may sometimes mean that they are experiencing so much stress that their body is just constantly tired and constantly seems to be needing rest and sleep, which is obviously not a good thing.
Feeling tired and fatigued all the time can be a very big problem for a variety of reasons, least of which is the obvious problem that the person may not be able to function normally at all.
Many studies have shown that a variety of Anxiety disorders can directly affect sleep and this, in turn, can make you feel very tired, and this means that anxiety can very often lead to chronic feelings of tiredness.
Furthermore, many people who are experiencing tiredness from anxiety may not even realise it, and they may find that they simply do not have the will or desire to do things without being aware of why not.
Many people also mistake tiredness from anxiety as being a symptom of depression and they may not even realise that it is worry and anxiety, which only goes to show the lack of information and knowledge people seem to have about the common symptoms of anxiety.
If you are suffering from tiredness because of anxiety, there are many places where you can look for resources, for example, the National Sleep Foundation, which is an organisation that seeks to aid sleep for people who are experiencing too much restlessness.
The reason why people are likely to experience tiredness from anxiety is not just because of lack of sleep, however, it can also be because anxiety causes significant physiological arousal for no apparent reason, and this type of arousal is tough on the body’s resources.
This physiological arousal eventually starts to take a toll on the person and they may start feeling like they are too lethargic or that they simply cannot focus, which leads to chronic feelings of tiredness.
To improve your quality of sleep, add this pillow spray and the best anxiety sheets you can find to your bed. In addition, you can decorate it with stuffed animals and put some earplugs for the noises. We recommend the following Best Earplugs For Anxiety, where the Stiizy Pods and Pax Era Pod for anxiety stand out, where you can put Binaural Beats.
Light Therapy has proven to be helpful in getting a good quality of sleep. Use night lamps to help you regulate your sleep. If you have simple tastes, you can check the Best Light Bulb for Anxiety, if you are a mystic, you can also find the Best Salt Lamp for Anxiety.
Anxiety Symptoms
Here are some anxiety symptoms:
- rapid heart rate
- Palpitations
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Faitning spells
- Tightness in the chest
- Pressure in the head
- Trouble Breathing
- digestive or gastrointestinal problems, such as gas, constipation, or diarrhea
- rapid breathing, or hyperventilation
- increased or heavy sweating
- difficulty focusing or thinking clearly about anything other than the subject of worry
- a strong desire to avoid the things that trigger your anxiety
- obsessions about certain ideas, a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- performing certain behaviors over and over again
- trembling or muscle twitching
- nervousness, restlessness, or being tense
- feelings of danger, panic, or dread
- weakness and lethargy
- insomnia
- anxiety surrounding a particular life event or experience that has occurred in the past
- Fear of losing control or dying
- Worry about nothing in particular
How to cope with Anxiety from Being Tired?
Here are some tips on how you can cope with anxiety from being tired:
- Get enough sleep every day at regular times
- Practice meditation
- Get some exercise. We recommend the Peloton Ride.
- Eat healthily, make sure you eat plenty of vegetables
- Cut down on substances like alcohol, tobacco or caffiene
- Don’t overwork yourself
- Take frequent breaks in work
- Assess your situation to see if you are experiencing burnout at work
- Take a vacation and relax for a few days
- Seek professional help
- Get medical help to see where the tiredness is coming from
- Talk to someone you feel comfortable with
- Get some fresh air
- Try to figure out why you are feeling so tired
- Go for a walk
- Drink some cold water
- Do something nice for yourself.
BetterHelp: A Better Alternative
Those who are seeking therapy online may also be interested in BetterHelp. BetterHelp offers plenty of formats of therapy, ranging from live chats, live audio sessions and live video sessions. In addition, unlimited messaging through texting, audio messages and even video messages are available here.
BetterHelp also offers couples therapy and therapy for teenagers in its platform. Furthermore, group sessions can also be found in this platform, covering more than twenty different topics related to mental health and mental illness. The pricing of BetterHelp is also pretty cost-effective, especially considering the fact that the platform offers financial aid to most users.
Conclusion
In this brief guide, we looked at anxiety from being tired and some ways to cope with this type of anxiety. Anxiety from being tired is more common than you would think and therefore it is good to get help for this kind of thing before it gets out of hand. If you have any more questions or comments about anxiety from being tired, please feel free to reach out to us at any time.
Light Therapy has proven to be helpful in getting a good quality of sleep. Use night lamps to help you regulate your sleep. If you have simple tastes, you can check the Best Light Bulb for Anxiety, if you are a mystic, you can also find the Best Salt Lamp for Anxiety.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Anxiety from Being Tired
Can you get anxiety from being tired?
Yes, you can get anxiety from being tired, as when you are tired, you can often become less tolerant and more irritable and this can give rise to anxious feelings.
People may also experience anxiety from being tired because anxiety makes them feel moody and they may also have sleep problems because of it too, and it is a well-known fact that sleep deprivation causes anxiety.
Why does anxiety make me so tired?
Anxiety may make you so tired because it can have some very physiological effects and many people experience severe physical symptoms when they are experiencing anxiety.
Anxiety may also make you tired because it may make you experience hormonal fluctuations, like a rise or fall in adrenaline, and anxiety can also make you feel very high energy in the form of palpitations and breathlessness which may be followed by a big crash.
Do you need more sleep if you have anxiety?
You do not necessarily need more sleep if you have anxiety, but in some cases, one may experience more anxiety if they are not getting enough sleep, and this sleep deprivation may make the body feel like it is running low on resources.
One may also need more sleep if they have anxiety because they feel like they just can’t seem to deal with the physiological symptoms of anxiety and they may find that sleeping through it is the only thing that seems to help them.
How do I overcome anxiety fatigue?
To overcome anxiety fatigue you may do the following things:
Get adequate sleep.
Think about fatigue in a different way.
Try to do more physical activity.
Eat healthy.
Reduce caffeine.
Stay hydrated
Learn to deal with stress effectively.
Citations
https://calmer-you.com/5-things-aggravate-anxiety/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130626143031.htm
https://www.talkspace.com/blog/am-i-anxious-common-signs-of-anxiety/
https://urbanbalance.com/can-anxiety-make-you-tired/
https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/anxiety-triggers#1
Anxiety: Why We’re So Exhausted
https://www.calmclinic.com/anxiety/symptoms/tiredness
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