The Anxiety Wave: On waking up with anxiety

~ Eleanor Segall

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In previous posts about my mental health journey, I have mentioned having an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are triggered in the brain and can be very hard to keep under control. Thankfully, most of the time, I can function at optimum health. Yet, sometimes stressors come along and throw me a little off course.

The main anxiety issue I have is usually morning anxiety. This is when you wake up and almost freeze from fear- you feel like you can’t do anything or enjoy the day, panic floods the body. Sometimes, after a few hours this form of terror dissipates. You can distract yourself and it goes – but sometimes it takes a little longer for it to go and it causes exhaustion. This is due to the hormones adrenaline and cortisol which are triggered pre or during a panic attack.

I am still learning to ride the anxiety wave- it can make you feel very tired and far less productive. For me, it often happens after I have had time away from work or a disruption to my routine, the anxious thoughts and feelings will flood back, making life that little bit harder again.

It is not easy nor straightforward dealing with this. I have to be kind to myself and know it will pass. Breathe, and distract my mind. Try and use meditation techniques to keep it under control.

Published by Eleanor Segall

I blog about life with bipolar and anxiety disorders, come and join me.

8 thoughts on “The Anxiety Wave: On waking up with anxiety”

  1. I wake up anxiety most of the time, particularly if I had a late night with a lot on my mind and I didn’t sleep well. My relationship with sleep is pretty bad too. I feel an inexplicable discomfort every time it’s late into the evening, like 11 pm or 12 am, and my first thought is knowing I should be going to sleep and giving my body enough rest, but 8 times out of 10 I will usually stay up because I don’t know how to physically get into the mindset of getting ready to sleep and quieting the frenzy of thoughts in my head. Lately I’ve also noticed I wake up but then don’t want to get out of bed. Then when I do get up a half hour later, I feel pangs of misery over wasting time. The worst is when I know I have stuff planned for the next day and I don’t fall asleep right away the night before because I’m thinking about my plans. It could be something simple like I have plans to go with my mom to a flower shop or something and I’ll somehow still feel anxiety about going out.

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    1. Hi Nat,

      Thank you for sharing your story with me.

      Re getting to sleep have you tried calming meditation? Download the Headspace App- it gives you free ones. Also, journalling can really help- I hope that it helps you, I find writing out my worries to be of some assistance.

      Are you feeling depressed in the mornings?

      The thing that helps me is exposure therapy- doing small things towards getting me out and about when I am anxious. Be kind to yourself and make achievable goals.Its OK to cancel and feel terrible as long as you keep trying to go out and conquer the anxiety .

      Always here!

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      1. I haven’t tried meditation on my own yet. Do you find the app to be helpful?

        I don’t journal as much as I used to. 😐 It’s weird. When I was in the 16-23 age range, I was like really obsessive compulsive about writing down every single thing that happened to me in a day. Now I journal sporadically and am lucky if I even write once a week.

        I do feel depressed during some mornings. A lot of it stems from anxiety about going through the actual motions of completing a task, even if it’s something as small as walking to the post office and putting my stamped mail in the slot to be sent out. Other times I’m depressed because I have nothing planned for my day. I’m pretty hard on myself when I do have plans. I’m constantly in doubt about whether I deserve to have fun when anxiety is always on my mind.

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      2. Yes the app is really helpful, do try it.
        I journal sporadically now and blog online more. However journalling always helps me.
        I understand that feeling of depression and anxiety. Do tasks that are achievable, and dont be too hard on yourself. Easier said than done I know as I often put a lot of pressure on myself. But you do deserve to have fun and enjoy yourself.

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