Simple & Healthy Ways to Ease Anxiety Before Going to Sleep 

Introduction

Anxiety seems to be all over the news lately. Questions like “How do you calm anxiety?” “What is anxiety?” “anxiety vs. panic attack” and “Anxiety at night” are some of the more commonly searched questions on search engines. This isn’t anything new – in fact, these questions have been trending for 16 years! However, since 2020, it seems talk of mental health and anxiety has become more prevalent in our everyday conversations.

Let’s get back to that last search topic: “Anxiety at night”. Did you know that more than 50% of adults say their anxiety is worse at night? This can be due to a variety of factors such as hormone levels, exhaustion, or just having time to think about the upcoming days. Regardless of the cause of anxiety, there are a few things you can do that can help reduce the levels of anxiety that you feel before you go to sleep. 

Sleep Training

This sounds odd because we usually refer to sleep training as a tool that new parents can use to get their babies on a sleep schedule, but it’s something that adults can do too. Training your brain to sleep as soon as you lay down can be done with careful practice and commitment. Check out some of the ways you can go about this:

“Following a nighttime routine is comforting and also lets your brain prepare for sleep,” says Tyler Read, Founder and Senior Editor of Personal Trainer Pioneer. “Get into the habit of following a routine at night and you’ll find yourself ready to catch some Zzzs before your head hits the pillow. If your brain goes straight to sleep, you won’t have time for anxiety to take hold and keep you awake.”

“Try to go to bed on a regular schedule,” says Mark Sider, CEO and Co-Founder of Greater Than. “Your body will develop regular cycles for sleep and you’ll be able to fall asleep faster, eliminating the time you spend lying awake and thinking about the things that are making you anxious. Keep yourself busy until a certain time each night and then start your routine. Some people find it helpful to shower ”

Limit Screens and Distractions

In your room, you should be able to lay down and not be distracted by things such as phones, televisions, and light sources that could keep you awake at night. In fact, it’s recommended that you avoid screens and electronics an hour before you plan to sleep. Instead of scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok, try to find other things to do instead.

“Screens produce a blue light that has been proven to interrupt the initiation of falling asleep,” says Jason Reposa, Founder and CEO of Good Feels. “As someone who has struggled with anxiety that can keep me up at night, I know that the longer I have to lay there waiting for sleep to come, the higher my anxiety can get. Putting away my phone and turning off the television can honestly make such a difference.”

“Look for things to do before bed that don’t require a screen,” says Dr. Michael Green, Chief Medical Officer of Winona. “There are chores like putting away dishes or laundry and other fairly mindless tasks that you can do just before bed as you start to wind down for the evening. If you’re someone who likes to get those things done early, check out a few books from the library to work your way through before bed. These simple changes can really help you fall asleep quickly which lowers the chance that your anxiety will take hold and prevent you from getting the rest you need.”

Avoid Caffeine

While it seems like a no-brainer that you shouldn’t drink a cup of coffee immediately before going to bed, many people are more caffeine sensitive than they realize. Something as simple as a soft drink at dinner could be the difference between amping up that anxiety before bed or slipping into a peaceful slumber.

“Caffeine is a much more powerful stimulant than most people realize,” says Hector Gutierrez, CEO of JOI. “The worst part about caffeine is that after a night of anxiousness that resulted in less sleep than was needed, we’re tempted to grab a large coffee or two throughout the day – and sometimes more than that. We use caffeine to keep ourselves going through the day but caffeine has a much longer effect on our bodies than most of us realize. It can take many hours for that stimulant to leave your system and caffeine is also known to worsen anxiety.”

“Drinking a cup of coffee before your 3 pm meeting might feel safe, but many adults can be affected by caffeine for as long as 10 hours after drinking the beverage,” says Jae Pak, Founder of Jae Pak MD Medical. “That means that your 3 pm cup of coffee may keep you up and anxious until 1 in the morning. This is how a lot of us end up with this routine and feel addicted to caffeine – we over-caffeinate until we don’t sleep soundly and have to use caffeine to stay awake the next day. Caffeine and exhaustion can both amplify feelings of anxiety as well, so it’s best to avoid catching yourself in this cycle.”

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are many ways for you to ease your anxiety before going to sleep. These are just some of the simple and easy ways our experts recommend trying out. They’re free healthy ways to help you sleep more and stress less about your worries that might be keeping you up at night. 

First, you’ll want to make sure you don’t have any distractions in your room. Create a designated ‘boring’ sleeping place for you to fall asleep quickly. Sleep training yourself to follow a routine to prepare for sleep can also be beneficial. This will require commitment, though. You have to be diligent about following this routine long enough for your body to become conditioned to respond. 

Next, avoiding some things can help you have a more restful sleep and prevent those anxious thoughts that might buzz around as you’re trying to settle for the night. Turning off your electronic devices an hour before bed can be helpful. We’ve all heard that blue light can affect our brains, and sleep is one of those things that can be intercepted by stimulating screens. Finally, cutting out afternoon caffeine can dramatically help your sleep schedule since some people do feel these effects up to 10 hours after ingesting the stimulating beverages. 

These simple steps to prepare yourself for bed can help you avoid focusing on the things that are making you anxious because you will be prepared to fall asleep quickly.