Calming Nighttime Anxiety

16 years old teenager relaxing on bed in his room

March 28, 2022

It’s a well-known fact that we all need sleep to survive, but did you know that sleep is also closely tied to our mental health? Recent studies suggest that sleep issues could be a cause and effect of mental health issues. When you don’t get enough sleep it can have a negative effect on your mental health. However, these studies also indicate that many mental health conditions can contribute to poor sleep. Because of their close relationship, sleep becomes extremely important for maintaining your mental health.

So what do we do when we can’t sleep? Many of us know that moment when we’re in bed and trying to fall asleep but our minds are racing with thoughts and worries. The more we try to focus on sleeping the more our thoughts race and the cycle keeps us from getting the rest we need. Here are some ideas for calming your mind and getting the sleep that you need:

Ways to Stop the Racing

Don’t force yourself to sleep. If you don’t fall asleep within 20 minutes find a relaxing activity like reading, journaling, listening to music, or meditating. Once you feel yourself getting sleepy try again.
Try some deep breathing or grounding exercises to help calm your mind. Here is a list of some grounding exercises to try!
Eat a light snack. Getting out of bed and finding something light to eat can help your brain chemicals regulate your sleep. Plus, without an empty stomach, you will have one less thing to think about when you lay back down.

Prevent the Racing from Starting

Create a soothing bedtime routine. Set an alarm to let you know when it’s time to start winding down and fill the time before you go to bed with relaxing activities. If you have an iPhone, you can automatically set your phone to go into “sleep mode” at a certain time. This will silence notifications and dim your phone.
Power down your devices. The blue light from your devices can disrupt the melatonin production that your body needs to get good sleep. Also, stimulating or stressful information on your phone can contribute to your mind racing later on.
Schedule some “worry time” into your routine. Write down all of the stressors that are bothering you and try to list a couple of things you can do about them. Putting your worries onto paper will help keep them off your mind as you try to sleep.
Keep a gratitude list where you write down a few things you’re grateful for each night. This will help put you in a more peaceful and positive mindset as you try to sleep.

Do you have a bedtime routine? Any tried-and-true ways to relax when your mind is racing? Let us know in the comments below your favorite ways to get to sleep!