Can anxiety/stress cause you to have lack of sleep?

**Merro** · 06-23-2014 11:43 AM

Hey there, recently I have been dealing with allot of stress and I've been getting lack of sleep... For 2 weeks I haven't been sleeping well and I've been staying up all night till 4 in the morning. And it's really getting irritating. I need to do stuff during the day and I don't know what I should do to stop the problems, does anyone know any tips that could help me get my sleeping schedule back on track? I know this is unhealthy but I would appreciate it if anyone could help! Thanks.

I don't know if it is stress related but I've been dealing with allot of stress and anxiety lately.

**MrPriority** · 06-23-2014 12:31 PM

Hhmm you could try to leave things as they are when you go to sleep. When you go to sleep, you cannot solve all the problems you have. The best thing you can do at that point, is to go to bed and have a good night of sleep. Worrying about day time stuff will only keep you awake. And lack of sleep will only cause more problems. So you need to really convince yourself that when you go to bed, it is now sleep time. And the best thing you can do at that point is leave it all aside and get some sleep.

I believe there are multiple techniques that teach you how to convince yourself. One I am using right now is Auto-Suggestion. You literally tell yourself out loud: "This is sleep time. The best thing I can do now, is leave my problems aside and get a good night rest!" You can repeat it a couple of times if you want. And try to really believe it. I usually get relaxed by doing that.

**Kaiern9** · 06-23-2014 03:18 PM

Stress can definetely affect sleep negatively.

**snoop** · 06-24-2014 12:53 AM

Originally Posted by Kaiern9

Stress can definetely affect sleep negatively.

This, it can absolutely be detrimental to sleep. It can even cause your sleep to be less restful, causing you to be fatigued and possibly irritable the next day.

**Voldmer** · 06-24-2014 11:55 AM

Maybe you simply need a little help falling asleep. I would suggest the following herbs (as infusions; i.e. "herbal teas"):

Oat straw: calming for the nervous system, and very useful for sleep (in my opinion)
Tulsi (aka "Holy Basil"): known to be effective against stress, also pleasant and relaxing
California poppy: knocks me well and truly out
Lemon balm: gives a pleasant sleep

Alternatively, you could try herbal supplements. For example:

Bacopa: anti-anxiety, pro-sleep. Works extremely well for me
5-HTP: anti-depressant, pro-sleep (if taken in the evening).

There are many more possibilities.

Try not to get dependent on any one of them (i.e. don't use them night after night for a prolonged period). Instead use them to get into a good sleep pattern, and then drop them again.

**snoop** · 06-24-2014 07:28 PM

L-theanine is a great supplement to help getting to sleep or even just to help you relax and handle stress more effectively while awake.

**woahbot** · 06-24-2014 07:43 PM

Originally Posted by MrPriority

Hhmm you could try to leave things as they are when you go to sleep.

I've been trying to do this too lately as I've started grinding my teeth during sleep which is causing problems, and I haven't had super deep sleep in a while. Been trying to get into a habit of treating my bed as a place which, when I enter it - I don't let any thoughts about the day, the past or the future enter my mind. I guess it's a bit like mediation in bed. I've used that time to think about dreaming or just to breathe and do some relaxation exercises (breathe in, tense a muscle group, hold, relax & breathe out).

Had some really cool dreams the past few nights - much more intricate than usual, and hopefully the quality of my sleep also begins to improve.