Sleep Anxiety and Long-Term Sleep Problems: Why It Develops and How to Start Overcoming It

Sleep anxiety is often described as fear, worry or stress about not being able to fall asleep, stay asleep or get enough good quality sleep.

But if you've struggled with long-term insomnia or sleep problems, how sleep anxiety develops and what it actually feels like can be very different from one person to another.

In this video, I look at why sleep anxiety can develop after months or years of struggling with your sleep.

The more difficult nights you experience, particularly when sleep tips, advice or sleep aids haven't given you sustainable results, the more uncertainty you can start to feel about what tonight and the following day might be like.

Rather than simply labelling the problem as "sleep anxiety", I encourage you to look at how it actually shows up for you physically, emotionally and mentally. You might experience physical nervousness, worry, frustration or disappointment, future-based thinking, racing thoughts or find yourself searching for something that will finally help you sleep.

I also explain why sleep anxiety often starts much earlier than bedtime. Becoming aware of when your nervousness or anxiousness begins to increase can give you an opportunity to work with it proactively, before it becomes much stronger when you're trying to sleep.

This is the first video in a four-part series about sleep anxiety and long-term sleep problems. In the next three videos, I'll explore sleep anxiety related to worrying about how you'll perform the following day, sleep tracking and monitoring, and concerns about the long-term health effects of poor sleep.

If you're experiencing sleep anxiety alongside long-term insomnia or sleep problems in your 40s or 50s, this series will help you look beyond the general label of anxiety and start understanding what might be happening in your individual situation.

If you're looking for personalised sleep coaching or support to fully overcome your long-term insomnia or sleep problems, you can arrange a Sleep Assessment appointment.

Beatrix

It's always best to watch the entire video, but here are some chapters for you:

00:00 Introduction to why sleep anxiety develops and how to start overcoming it

01:19 Why and how does sleep anxiety develop

03:20 How does sleep anxiety show up for you physically, emotionally and mentally

06:09 How to start overcoming sleep anxiety depending on your situation

09:27 Learn practical tools and techniques that help you decrease the intensity of your experience