Episode 106: Hit Snooze On Your Anxiety
We’re so excited to announce our GRATITUDE GIVEAWAY!! Longtime listener, Kenny Fitzgerald, and his company TEKsystems are giving YOU a chance to win a FREE YEAR-LONG SUBSCRIPTION to CALM! Thank you, Kenny, for sponsoring this give-away!
All you have to do to win is leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify by the end of the month. Or, if you’ve already kindly left us a review in the past, get a friend to leave a review and DM us a screenshot of it. You have until March 31st, to be entered to win! We’ll announce the winner on our April 7th episode. Happy reviewing!
Anxiety & Sleep: The Vicious Cycle
We all know that getting quality sleep is important for your wellness. Getting good Zzzs improves your cognitive function, regulates your mood, boosts your metabolism, and strengthens your immune system to fight off illness & infection. Being well rested allows your body to function optimally, including regulating blood sugar, improving athletic performance and promoting heart health. Basically, getting good sleep keeps us healthy! But what if our oh-so-familiar friend and foe, anxiety, is getting in the way of our trusted beauty sleep?
In today’s episode we’re discussing sleep anxiety, specifically the vicious cycle created when anxiety impedes your ability to get quality sleep, how not getting regular shuteye revs up your anxiety, and how this negative pattern impacts your wellbeing. We’ll start by defining sleep anxiety, talk about the relationship between anxiety and sleep, and give you tips to improve 5 categories of your life to help you end sleep anxiety and wake rested & refreshed every day!
I’s time to take a look at SHI (that’s your Sleep Health Index) as we chat about Sleep Wellness and anxiety. Today we’re exploring the complicated relationship between anxiety & sleep and sharing ways you can improve your wellness with better sleep every night!
*** Fun fact: Sleep used to be divided into five different stages, but this was changed by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine in 2007.***
What’s the Relationship Between Anxiety and Sleep?
Many people with anxiety disorders have trouble sleeping. That's a problem. Too little sleep affects mood, contributing to irritability and sometimes depression. Vital functions occur during the different stages of sleep that leave you feeling rested and energized or help you learn and forge memories. Sleep usually improves when an anxiety disorder is treated. Practicing good "sleep hygiene" helps, too.
But what if you have sleep anxiety? Sleep anxiety is a feeling of fear or stress about falling asleep or staying asleep. Sleep problems and mental health disorders such as anxiety are closely intertwined. Afterall, sleep deprivation increases cortisol, the stress hormone, so one often makes the other worse, and it can feel like a never-ending cycle.
Serious sleep disturbances, including insomnia, have long been recognized as a common symptom of anxiety disorders. When you’re plagued with worry, you often ruminate about your concerns in bed, and this anxiety at night can keep you from falling asleep.
In fact, a state of mental hyper-arousal, frequently marked by worry, has been identified as a key factor behind insomnia. When you have an anxiety disorder, you’re inclined to have higher sleep reactivity, which means your sleeping problems increase in proportion to your stress level.
But good news: anxiety and sleep problems are both treatable!
Practicing good "sleep hygiene" helps, too.
Listen now for 5 specific ways to improve your sleep and escape the vicious sleep-anxiety cycle.
Practicing good "sleep hygiene" helps, too.
Listen now for 5 specific ways to improve your sleep and escape the vicious sleep-anxiety cycle.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/soul-full-of-wellness/id1506103423
Learn more on our website.
https://www.soulfullofwellness.com
Email questions & suggestions to SFOWpodcast@gmail.com
Follow us on Instagram @soul_full_of_wellness
Follow us on Twitter @SFOWpod
Follow Kaelynn on Instagram @coaching_with_kae
Follow Kit on Instagram @breathe.relax.trust
Thank you to Nick Serena, from Astro Inn, for our theme music!
Take a minute to follow, rate & review SFOW on Apple podcasts or wherever you’re listening today, so you never miss a week of wellness goodness! We love getting feedback & suggestions, so please write a review, send a quick email, or DM us on Instagram.