If you are having anxiety dreams on a regular basis, chances are there are real life stresses in your life that are in need of attention.
Why do we have stress dreams? Because, when you are sleeping, your mind is still active. When you are stressed and anxious, your mind is processing your emotions throughout your life, regardless if it is day or night. This is why personal worries and fears can appear in your dreams.
Everyone Experiences Stress
Stress is something we all have in our lives, but for some people it becomes an all encompassing issue. To live your best life, you need to learn ways to control your stress so that it isn’t controlling you.
Sometimes there are life events that add to your personal stress. Some examples of this include job loss, losing a family member, or moving to a new city. Talking through changes in life with a personal consultant can help you to diffuse building stress associate with life changes.
Stress Can Cause Anxiety Dreams
When we are upset, it can lead to sleep issues. For some, that means having trouble falling asleep and for others it means having poor sleep and upsetting dreams once sleep is achieved. When there is an unbalanced amount of rest to wakefulness within a night’s sleep, more dreaming can occur.
If you are worried and having trouble sleeping, or if you are experiencing anxiety dreams, know that there are solutions. With practice, you can learn to control stress in your life.
And maintaining a healthy sleep schedule is vital because there is a strong relationship between sleep and mental health. Sleep is an essential component to keeping your mind and body healthy. Studies have shown there is a link to not sleeping and episodes of depression. You owe it to yourself to learn how to relax and sleep well.
Ways to Relax Before Bed
Recognizing you need help relaxing is a first step. Once you acknowledge there is problem, you can begin to start using relaxation strategies to improve your sleep. Some find relief through breathing and relaxation techniques. Others can improve their rest by not allowing stressors into the bedroom. This means keeping bedrooms free of devices and technology. Your bedroom is a place to relax, so instead of watching the news before bed opt to read an enjoyable book or listen to music that brings you joy.
If you are already implementing relaxation techniques and you still find yourself waking up in the middle of the night, know that it happens to everyone now and again. We all have anxiety dreams and we all worry in the middle of the night sometimes. Be kind to yourself. Try to relax. If you simply can’t go back to sleep, get out of bed. Spending time in bed reprimanding yourself for being awake is not helpful. Instead, get up for a bit, clear your mind, then return back to bed and try to sleep again.
Anxiety dreams are often connected to stresses in your day-to-day life. Take control of your stress and your sleep will improve.
