overcome panic attacks

Psychological Help for Sleep Panic Attacks

by nicola

Sleep panic attacks aren’t damaging, but can be very frightening.  They’re a continuation of what haunts you throughout the day time – anxiety.

The signs of sleep attacks are exactly the same as daytime attacks; sweating, tight chest / throat,hyperventilation, palpitations, concern of impending doom, concern you are getting a heart assault,and so on. But waking suddenly having a racing heart, shortness of breath, spasms and feeling sheer terror. Nevertheless, just as with daytime attacks, sleep or nocturnal panic attacks signs can’t damage you.

Treatments are exactly the same as for daytime attacks; medication, therapies and self-help:- physical exercise, eating habits, breathing workouts, meditation, self-hypnosis, yoga, and so on.

Habits which encourage rest need to be introduced – no coffee or alcohol within the later component from the day time, no television within the bedroom, no vigorous physical exercise prior to bed.

In many ways, treatment follows the similar strategy as that for daytime panic attacks. If the attacks are repeated, a sedative might be prescribed on a temporary basis. Sedatives aren’t perfect as they can be addictive and also the rest they induce isn’t high quality rest. But some rest is much better than none. The results of the continual lack of rest on our bodily and mental wellness could be devastating.

Psychological Treatments for Sleep Panic Attacks

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or counselling are both psychological treatments that are utilised to help deal with panic attacks. Neither are “quick fixes”. Counselling can help deal with “emotional baggage” that may be feeding into your anxiety. For example you may have tried to bury your emotions relating to some trauma many years ago.

CBT helps tackle your thinking and behaviour. In particular it can help you understand how particular thinking styles perpetuate your negative views. For example you may automatically filter out any positive feedback and only dwell on criticism. Consequently you live to expect constant negative feedback and being “told off”. As well as affecting your mood, this heightens your anxiety, which in turn can lead to sleep panic attacks.

Anxiety Causes Insomnia

by nicola

Sleep Panic Attacks – Anxiety?

What comes first – sleep panic attacks or sleep problems with stress or  anxiety at their root.  Whilst this blog focusses on panic attacks, it is worth considering how frequently stress triggers sleep problems in general.

For example, you wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, all the while you are up your mind is racing, filled with “what if” thinking. Just in the few minutes that it takes for you to walk to the bathroom you may have already had as many as ten different thoughts.

As you climb back into bed, the thinking has filled your head so much that you can not fall back to sleep again. As you lay there wondering and worrying about things that are likely not even in your control, you watch the minutes that turn into hours just tick away. If this sounds like you, then you are suffering from insomnia that is likely caused from anxiety.

Research has found a very strong link between insomnia and anxiety as when a person suffers from one it is likely that they will suffer from both. As you are lying in bed, filled with anxiety, this will actually build up causing your brain to become even more active, which makes it even more impossible to sleep. This condition would not be defined as something that happens occasionally but rather frequently. Sometimes doing something as simple as turning the TV on in your room with a low volume but so you can still hear it and putting on something that is funny will really help. You will eventually fall asleep and what you are hearing on the TV will divert your thoughts.

Stress related insomnia falls under a few different categories such as transient insomnia which is usually associated with situational stress. In other words, perhaps you have an upcoming job, a presentation, an exam, or a move.

Short term insomnia lasts for six months or less that are generally related to a death, an illness, or maybe environmental factors. Finally, there is chronic insomnia which can be contributed to a variety of factors that may require a medical or psychological evaluation to determine the exact cause.

Sleep Panic Attacks

There can be many stages of insomnia which can range from short term to long term insomnia. Insomnia can then increase anxiety which can lead to many other conditions later on. The mere frustration of sleep deprivation alone can manifest into many other serious conditions.

Do you find yourself finding at least one particular event to dwell on and by nighttime that thought or thoughts have completely taken over your train of thought? When this happens it could be that your mind is racing so quickly thinking of what you will do, what you could have done differently, what you could say if given another chance, and so on. These things will prohibit sleep faster than anything will.

Untreated this can easily lead to panic disorder which is why you should be seen by a doctor right away and remember that there are so many new and very friendly medications available today to treat anxiety; you will be so grateful that you went. If you have anxiety related insomnia there is no reason to suffer with it for another day because there is help available.

Getting to Sleep and Panic Attacks at Night

Below is another article by Barry Joe McDonagh, the creator of the PanicAway method for dealing with panic attacks.  I’m delighted to say that he focusses on sleep panic attacks in this article:- Getting to Sleep and Panic Attacks at Night As most doctors will tell you, there are two things that disturb sleep: physical [...]

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Sleep Panic Attacks – Cure Panic Attacks in the Night

Below is another guest article.  I will seek out any I find that have something original to say.  This, has an interesting take on when sleep panic attacks occur:- …  occur during the early stage of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and hence it is not triggered by dream as dreams occur in much later stage [...]

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Sleep Panic Attacks Why?

Panicky feelings when you are half asleep are particularly unpleasant – everything seems magnified in the night. However like all anxiety symptoms they run their course and move on. Just make bedtime as relaxed as you can. We have a very limited understanding as to what causes a panic attack at night. It could well [...]

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Panic Attacks in Sleep

There is no worse way to wake up than with your heart racing, sweating, being unable to breath and feeling like you’re going to die. A sleep panic attack is  a physiological response – the fight or flight – your body is having. As I have  said in other posts, this is quite “natural”.  But death [...]

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Anxiety Panic Attack Symptoms part 2

In the last post we touched on some of the symptoms experienced by panic attack sufferers, and why we suffer from anxiety in the first place. Remember, the root of anxiety symptoms is the fight or flight response. Heart & Breathing So in anticipation of increased exertion, the heart beats faster to pump blood – [...]

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Anxiety Panic Attack Symptoms

The phrases “panic attack” and “anxiety attack” are virtually interchangeable. Whilst the word panic sums up more vividly what people experience, the word anxiety is a more accurate reflection of what is happening to our body. Unfortunately, as everyone get anxious at times, to say you’re having an anxiety attack isn’t going to get much sympathy! [...]

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Sleep Panic Attacks

Panic attacks are frightening. Those of you lucky enough never to have suffered cannot imaging the unpredictable bouts of terror that grip people when they suffer a panic attack.  Sleep panic attacks are when the attacks start when you are asleep Symptoms can vary but most common are a pounding heart, churning stomach, breath coming in short [...]

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