Morning anxiety

[ss_worrier]

Hi,

I have a question on morning anxiety. I have better and worse periods, but since a few weeks back (since I started sleeping alone again) my anxiety has been at its absolute worst as a little good-morning-greeting to me, from the moment I wake up (no matter whether it's two hours before I actually need to get up or if it's when my alarm clock rings). I feel like the skin on my head gets tensed (is that the feeling you would call light-headedness? English isn't my native language), "something" starts rushing in my heart and chest, my heart starts beating very fast, my asthma symtoms increase, et cetera. And all of this is accompanied by the usual pattern of frightening, depressing thoughts, throwing me into a state of panic. The physical symtoms go down slightly when I get to class, but the thoughts stay with me until at least half of my class time has passed (it almost works like clockwork on most days). After then it's usually okay, at least my anxiety turns into a general problem concentrating. The thoughts follow the same pattern as usually: right now it's mostly about a girl that I just dated but sort of broke up with (well, it's rather unclear which is in itself a big part of the anxiety right now). At least I'm glad that I'm at a stage in my anxiety where I can pretty clearly distinguish what thoughts and feelings are caused by it, getting out of the state of anxiety is the hard part.

Anyway, does anyone know a good way of dealing with morning anxiety? I've heard that grabbing a quick snack to immediately raise the blood sugar level can be helpful, what snack would you recommend? Any other rituals that can be helpful to go through in the morning? The very first minutes after waking up are especially painful. Really appreciate any sort of help on this!

Happy holidays!

/B

[ThePhoenix]

Hi,

I have a question on morning anxiety. I have better and worse periods, but since a few weeks back (since I started sleeping alone again) my anxiety has been at its absolute worst as a little good-morning-greeting to me, from the moment I wake up (no matter whether it's two hours before I actually need to get up or if it's when my alarm clock rings). I feel like the skin on my head gets tensed (is that the feeling you would call light-headedness? English isn't my native language), "something" starts rushing in my heart and chest, my heart starts beating very fast, my asthma symtoms increase, et cetera. And all of this is accompanied by the usual pattern of frightening, depressing thoughts, throwing me into a state of panic. The physical symtoms go down slightly when I get to class, but the thoughts stay with me until at least half of my class time has passed (it almost works like clockwork on most days). After then it's usually okay, at least my anxiety turns into a general problem concentrating. The thoughts follow the same pattern as usually: right now it's mostly about a girl that I just dated but sort of broke up with (well, it's rather unclear which is in itself a big part of the anxiety right now). At least I'm glad that I'm at a stage in my anxiety where I can pretty clearly distinguish what thoughts and feelings are caused by it, getting out of the state of anxiety is the hard part.

Anyway, does anyone know a good way of dealing with morning anxiety? I've heard that grabbing a quick snack to immediately raise the blood sugar level can be helpful, what snack would you recommend? Any other rituals that can be helpful to go through in the morning? The very first minutes after waking up are especially painful. Really appreciate any sort of help on this!

Happy holidays!

/B

Hi,

It certainly sounds like you have made anxiety a part of your daily routine! The more you reinforce the anxiety response each morning the more your body "gives" it to you. Its a bit like the saying...dont think of an elephant. You wake up expecting it and your body delivers it for you. I expect you wake up and subconsciously think of how your feeling so instantly the feeling is there.

I would suggest changing your routine, possibly each day. Maybe when you get up go straight to grab some breakfast or turn the TV straight on and focus on it. Something that you wouldnt normally do. You will probably still feel the old anxious thoughts for awhile as the cycle is hard to break but it certainly can be done with time and perseverance!

[ss_worrier]

thank you so much for replying. Yes, you are right in that I've made my anxiety part of my daily routine -- depending on what sort of period I'm in for the moment it's usually a pretty big part of my day in general, but I guess it's like that for all of us here. Right now is a particularly bad period and so the mornings are worse too. I literally find myself going over things in my head looking for the anxious thoughts the first thing I do when I wake up, like they are somehow my natural state of being. I do usually turn on my computer immediately when waking up and start watching a tv-show in the background, just to keep my thoughts from rushing too much, and I find that it helps to an (limited) extent.

Right now, it's 0730 and I just woke up. I feel myself being stuck with this feeling of panic. Even thoughts that should logically make me happy (such as nice texts from a girl that I've been dating since november last year) cause me anxiety because of the way I manage to turn them around in my head ("it doesnt matter, she doesn't like me no matter what" etc). Yeah, typical morning. My therapist once said that maybe I "need" my morning anxiety; that I should just accept it as a part of my day, maybe that's true.

[jessed03]

I think your therapist should be spending more time addressing these thoughts that pass by in your head. If you're talking yourself into a panic (which is common for us folk), then your body is going to remember this as a threat, and therefore respond cautiously to it. The same way muscles have memory, the nerves do too.

For me changes came when I learnt to shut my mind off. I get out of bed, and no thoughts go through my head. I instinctively get up, wash, make breakfast, get dressed, with maybe the odd thought of 'oh, lovely weather, or it's wednesday, better take out the trash'. It feels like such a normal way to live, a way I had never lived before. In the past, the second I woke up my mind would race 'Oh, I don't want to get up, I wish it was saturday, Damn, this is usually a time I feel anxious, what have I got to do today, I'm dreading that, why can't my life be different, I'm only gonna mess it up. Oh no, there's that heart beat again, why can't it just go, why cant i be normal, oh no, now my breath is racing, for goodness sake, life sucks, now im not in the mood to eat, this waters too cold.i hate my life, i look awful today, i cant be bothered with all of this, why cant i just escape it all, this is scary, i feel awful, how will i manage the day, I've let everyone down, people must ate me' blah blah blah. It wouldn't be as bad if this was my daily thought schedule, but it was all this within 2 minutes of awakening. Imagine that thoughout the day, day in day out. It drags the body down no end.

My mind would race from the second I got up. Somewhere in human evolution, we stopped using thoughts as a tool, and instead became consumed by them. Lost for hours at a time, mostly unaware of anything going on outside, just a quick glance now and again, then back inside the head to that voice. It's unnatural, no other species lives that way. For millions of years humans haven't either.

Firstly the negative thoughts need to be challenged as per CBT guidelines. Maybe you're doing that already. Secondly you need to get out of your head and back into the real world. I don't mean it in a bad way, we've all got caught up so much inside our head. Meditation can help this, but if you don't want to meditate, try focusing more on external stimuli. The only way to stop the thoughts is not to be a part of them. Don't entertain them. You're not your mind. My biggest epiphany was I don't have to believe a thing my body or mind says. I don't have to listen, or even acknowledge it. I was a crticial OCD sufferer. I would have visual, and mental hallucinations, have horrendous thoughts cripple me morning to night. Now if I get those thoughts I laugh them off. They amuse me. People ask me if I still suffer, I honestly have no idea, I ignore 95% of stuff that goes on inside my head, not because it's ugly, but simply because it actually has no practical, or relevant use. None of it's important, it's as the buddha describes; a monkey brain, it swings from one things to another, distracted, intrigued, scared, self-obsessed. If I have a chain of thought, or creativty, or memory pop in, I may choose to indulge it, if it's an anxious thought or an OCD thought, I let my mind process it, and take my awareness somewhere else. Within seconds it's gone, and I never remember what it was about.

I do believe we get attached to our problems though. I see it a lot with anxiety sufferers. It gives them a purpose, something to fight against. It becomes their life, and then when it's time to let it go, they realize they can't let go to what has become their life. But, like everything, with work and understanding, it can be overcome :)

[ThePhoenix]

I literally find myself going over things in my head looking for the anxious thoughts the first thing I do when I wake up, like they are somehow my natural state of being. I do usually turn on my computer immediately when waking up and start watching a tv-show in the background, just to keep my thoughts from rushing too much, and I find that it helps to an (limited) extent.

Right now, it's 0730 and I just woke up. I feel myself being stuck with this feeling of panic. Even thoughts that should logically make me happy (such as nice texts from a girl that I've been dating since november last year) cause me anxiety because of the way I manage to turn them around in my head ("it doesnt matter, she doesn't like me no matter what" etc). Yeah, typical morning. My therapist once said that maybe I "need" my morning anxiety; that I should just accept it as a part of my day, maybe that's true.

If you wake up looking for anxiety you will always find it! Distraction and a change of routine should help, the other thing that I found useful is consciously cutting the thoughts off when they stray to panic. As soon as you find yourself thinking anxiously, tell yourself to stop it and immediately think of something else...think of what your going to have for breakfast, the lyrics to a song, a movie your looking forward to seeing. etc etc.

I would have concerns as to why your therapist would say you needed anxiety? I dont see why you should except it as part of your day. With practice you can absolutely get up and not have anxious thoughts!


I think your therapist should be spending more time addressing these thoughts that pass by in your head. If you're talking yourself into a panic (which is common for us folk), then your body is going to remember this as a threat, and therefore respond cautiously to it. The same way muscles have memory, the nerves do too.

For me changes came when I learnt to shut my mind off. I get out of bed, and no thoughts go through my head. I instinctively get up, wash, make breakfast, get dressed, with maybe the odd thought of 'oh, lovely weather, or it's wednesday, better take out the trash'. It feels like such a normal way to live, a way I had never lived before. In the past, the second I woke up my mind would race 'Oh, I don't want to get up, I wish it was saturday, Damn, this is usually a time I feel anxious, what have I got to do today, I'm dreading that, why can't my life be different, I'm only gonna mess it up. Oh no, there's that heart beat again, why can't it just go, why cant i be normal, oh no, now my breath is racing, for goodness sake, life sucks, now im not in the mood to eat, this waters too cold.i hate my life, i look awful today, i cant be bothered with all of this, why cant i just escape it all, this is scary, i feel awful, how will i manage the day, I've let everyone down, people must ate me' blah blah blah. It wouldn't be as bad if this was my daily thought schedule, but it was all this within 2 minutes of awakening. Imagine that thoughout the day, day in day out. It drags the body down no end.

My mind would race from the second I got up. Somewhere in human evolution, we stopped using thoughts as a tool, and instead became consumed by them. Lost for hours at a time, mostly unaware of anything going on outside, just a quick glance now and again, then back inside the head to that voice. It's unnatural, no other species lives that way. For millions of years humans haven't either.

Firstly the negative thoughts need to be challenged as per CBT guidelines. Maybe you're doing that already. Secondly you need to get out of your head and back into the real world. I don't mean it in a bad way, we've all got caught up so much inside our head. Meditation can help this, but if you don't want to meditate, try focusing more on external stimuli. The only way to stop the thoughts is not to be a part of them. Don't entertain them. You're not your mind. My biggest epiphany was I don't have to believe a thing my body or mind says. I don't have to listen, or even acknowledge it. I was a crticial OCD sufferer. I would have visual, and mental hallucinations, have horrendous thoughts cripple me morning to night. Now if I get those thoughts I laugh them off. They amuse me. People ask me if I still suffer, I honestly have no idea, I ignore 95% of stuff that goes on inside my head, not because it's ugly, but simply because it actually has no practical, or relevant use. None of it's important, it's as the buddha describes; a monkey brain, it swings from one things to another, distracted, intrigued, scared, self-obsessed. If I have a chain of thought, or creativty, or memory pop in, I may choose to indulge it, if it's an anxious thought or an OCD thought, I let my mind process it, and take my awareness somewhere else. Within seconds it's gone, and I never remember what it was about.

I do believe we get attached to our problems though. I see it a lot with anxiety sufferers. It gives them a purpose, something to fight against. It becomes their life, and then when it's time to let it go, they realize they can't let go to what has become their life. But, like everything, with work and understanding, it can be overcome :)


Good post, completely agree with you!

[ss_worrier]

Both Phoenix and jessed,

Thank you very much for your replies, I found them both very helpful, both for future reference and for just getting through the day today. I am still in one of my worse periods, anxiety I guess is always a game of up-and-down and for the past month or so the ups have been very infrequent. But I will try to apply what you both wrote to me to my daily routine. Changing morning routines sounds like a good idea, I guess that I to some extent connect every part of my morning ritual to anxiety; I suppose my body remembers getting anxiety when doing this and that etc to an extent where it just connects the dots automatically. One way of avoiding that would be changing routines from one day to the other, I think.

I should mention that my therapist didn't mean the whole me needing my morning anxiety literally, what she meant was that maybe I should accept my mornings being hard and stick to the fact that it tends to get better during the day. On that matter I've found that I have become more bound by daylight than usually; even the slightest hint of a pink fading ray of sunlight can set me into an anxiety spin because it makes me sentimental. I am adressing my thoughts in therapy, but after almost two years of going over a lot of the same thought patterns (I know my negative thoughts so well, it's almost like I greet them when they creep up and get a sort of "oh well hello, there you are again"-sensation from them, before I grab on to them and start letting them set my mood, feeling and thinking). So I guess we've moved on more to adressing their reasons rather than analyzing the thoughts themselves.

Jessed, your story gave me a lot of hope. I am so glad you wanted to share your experiences. I have been trying to handle my thoughts the same way you do for quite a while now, when I first started therapy I found it much easier to distinguish and handle the bad thoughts for just what they are -- thoughts and not necessarily true nor a part of me. I guess my biggest problem is trusting myself. Deep down I have a perception of what thoughts and feelings are part of my anxiety and which ones are just there because I'm a living being, but it's so hard for me to trust that instinct. I feel like I've managed to hide it deep down and I don't know how to get it back. I do tend to overthink a lot of things, which I am in part grateful for since I believe it's what makes me curious and interested in the world around me -- a quality I am proud of and never want to loose. But it also lead me to the conclusion that if I don't really regard myself to be a successful and good person within some areas (those that my anxiety tends to circle around, such as love, relationships, looks, etc), then how can I trust my own judgment to decide what thoughts are not worth grabbing on to? Again, something within me knows this perfectly, and in therapy (CBT) I am almost embarrassed to admit the thoughts to my therapist because I know how stupid they are. That obviously also goes for admitting them to the people around me that I feel like I can confide in, such as my family and a particularly close friend of mine. I guess what I mean is that I lack the skill to fully admit the negative thoughts as something that I can simply not hold on to and linger over, because I can't quite trust myself. There has to be a reason for the thoughts, and in case the reason is me, then well I better think them over until I reach a conclusion, is my reasoning. And on it goes, as I'm sure you all know all too well.

Again thank you very much for your replies. I am so glad this forum exists, just knowing that you're not alone helps.

/B