The busy pace of life, stress, and worries can cause our heart rate to speed up when we try to sleep. A review of the causes and ways to address this problem.
After a busy day everyone wants to go to bed to rest with a peaceful sleep. We want to recover the energies we have invested doing everything throughout the day, with which we hope that when we lie down we join in a deep sleep.
But on many occasions it happens that, without wanting or drinking it, we begin to turn things around, especially now that we do not have any distraction beyond the darkness of night. We think about many things, worry about many others and begin to suffer the effects of something that is only in our mind.
Our heart races, worrying us even more. We suffer nocturnal tachycardias due to fear or anxiety, emotions caused by all kinds of problems that at night, although we cannot solve them, come to our consciousness and decide that we fall asleep late. Let’s talk more deeply about these uncomfortable annoyances.
- We recommend you read: “Fear and anxiety in insomnia: why are they related?”
Nocturnal tachycardias due to fear or anxiety
Surely, the following situation has happened to many of us: after a long and exhausting day in which we have worked or studied very hard or we have taken care of our family, it gets dark and we go quickly but tired to our bed. We get inside it hoping that the sweet and gentle call of Morpheus invites us to dream. Once lying down, with the lights off and our eyes tightly closed, waiting to fall asleep, we start thinking…
We think about the problems of our day to day, what has remained on the to-do list, we worry about how the future will go, we remember some unpleasant memories …
Now that we are no longer busy, these worries emerge from the depths of our mind and become conscious making us mentally awake despite being physically tired. Our mind is playing tricks on us, which we are going to pay for with a bad dream.
So much worry has physical effects, effects that we soon notice. The heart begins to race and even rumbles as if it wanted to get out of our chest. The more we worry the more anxiety and fear we feel about how things might go in the future, and the more tachycardia we suffer as a result. And to top it off, we worry about our own heart, fearing that the change in heart rate is synonymous with a medical problem. This is how the vicious cycle of nocturnal anxiety acts.
Anxiety, our nocturnal enemy
Each person can suffer from anxiety differently, and the reasons behind it can also be very varied.
Some people are surprised with worries and frightening thoughts in the morning, ideas that enter our mind giving us a lot of fear, ideas that may be exaggerated and surreal but the feeling they cause is very real. This same thing happens to others but at night, just at the time when they should be more relaxed.
Sleeping well is our best natural ally that gives us psychological well-being through a peaceful rest. In fact, it is often recommended to get some sleep to see things with a better perspective, be more energetic and be able to face life.
Ironically, being such an important biological need is also one of the most easily altered by all kinds of physical, physiological and psychological variables, anxiety being among the latter. It is enough with a single worrying thought for our sweet sleep to flee in terror.
No matter how physically tired we are after a busy day doing our things to the minimum that we bring to our consciousness worries and fears our mind makes like a “click”, activating andmaking us fall asleep later and badly.
Even if we want to sleep, these thoughts make us more nervous, racing our heart and making the center of our attention on the chest. Our heart is as active as if we had run a marathon, but without the beneficial effects of doing such a sporting activity.
Are nocturnal tachycardias dangerous?
That our heart races when we are lying down while trying to sleep is a phenomenon capable of generating varied problems. They wake us up mentally, despite being very tired physically. Its appearance makes us feel worse by adding to our repertoire of concerns a new one: do we have a heart problem? Are we having a heart attack? Does individual have any cardiovascular disease? We spin these questions, making us take longer to fall asleep and lose sleep.
But although they are annoying and hinder our sleep, the truth is thatnocturnal tachycardias are not synonymous with health problems or heart disease in themselves. It is totally normal for our hearts to race when we suffer anxiety or think about things that frighten and worry us, although when we are suffering from them we imagine the worst scenario and think that something of a physical, organic nature happens to us.
Aun así, aunque no son un problema de salud que vulnere seriamente el funcionamiento de nuestro sistema nervioso, la ansiedad que las causa sí que puede ser un problema de salud. De hecho, esa ansiedad puede ser la propia de un trastorno de ansiedad. La taquicardia es el resultado de una emoción, pero esa misma emoción es producto de tener o creer tener un problema de salud significativo, y en ambos casos se debe acudir a un médico para descartar cualquier enfermedad médica o tratarla convenientemente, además de ir a un psicólogo clínico para aprender a gestionar la ansiedad asociada.
Causas de la ansiedad nocturna
Anxiety can occur at any time of the day, but doing it at night makes it very difficult to fall asleep, and more if it causes nocturnal tachycardia. Despite being an emotion, anxiety and its effects should not be underestimated,nor should you belittleor ignore what causes it since, if it is something solvable, the fact of getting rid of it will significantly increase our well-being. Below we will see the main causes of night anxiety.
1. Stress
During the day many people suffer stress and anxiety due to different reasons, both work and family. Sometimes these events can become so intense or frequent that we can’t help but stop thinking about them even when they have already been resolved. That is, we have so much accumulated stressthat not even going to bed to rest we get rid of it.
2. More time to think
On many occasions what causes us anxiety at night are day-to-day problems that we have not solved in due time. During the day we are busy with different matters, not having time to fix such problems or even take them into account.
These problems remain on the to-do list and when night comes and we stop being busy and have fewer distractions, they appear suddenly. We have time to think only and exclusively about them and our mind plays tricks on usto do so.
The problem is that at night we will not be able to do anything, so thinking about the matter will only make us fall asleep later and the next day, at which time we could do something, let’s not do it because we are too tired.
3. Imaginary or anticipated worries
Another cause of nighttime anxiety is imaginary or anticipated worries, exaggerated thoughts of what we fear will happen. We suffer from anticipatory anxiety about something that really only exists in our mind.
4. Physical responses
Apart from tachycardia, you can notice discomfort and physical pain while lying down, caused or not by anxiety. These discomforts make us worry about our state of health, thinking that we could have some medical illness. In other cases they simply bother us, but we still focus a lot on them andbegin to get nervous when we see that they are not disappearing, entering fully into a vicious circle.
How to deal with insomnia due to anxiety?
It is common for people who suffer from nocturnal tachycardias due to fear or anxiety to try to find easy and quick methods to reduce these two problems, such as drugs and infusions. In some cases this more chemical pathway can have good results (in the case of psychotropic drugs, they can only be used under medical subscription), but many times the basic anxiety can be reduced or redirected in a more effective way through a change in our day to day, applying a series of guidelines that reduce their frequency and severity. While it is best toachieve this to attend psychotherapy, there are some key ideas that are simple to apply by yourself and that can help manage the problem if it is not very severe. Let’s see what they are.
1. Exercise
It is highly recommended to exerciseseveral hours before going to sleep (minimum six, so that it does not overlap with the moment of entering a state of sleep), but without being overstimulated. Exercise is a great ally for our physical, emotional and mental well-being, since it activates the release of serotonin and endorphins. In addition, being more physically tired we can fall asleep better and faster.
2. Maintain consistent schedules
Insomnia and nighttime anxiety can appear when you do not have a defined schedule. For this reason the best thing to do is try toestablish a fixed time to go to sleep, with a difference of approximately 30 minutes. In this way we help regulate our circadian rhythms and induce the appearance of a natural and quality sleep as soon as we lie down.
3. Avoid eating too much dinner
Food is an aspect that should be taken care of especially at night, since having a stomach that is too full or that feels burning keeps us awake, and more likely to feel anguish. For this reason, it is best to have dinner at early hours, between 19-21h, and that it is not too copious a meal.
4. Practice relaxation exercises
While it won’t magically make our anxiety go away, relaxation can help us prevent it and reduce its severity. Doing relaxation exercises before going to sleep can have a positive effect on our sleep, making us go to bed less mentally active.
Are you looking for professional psychological help?
If you are interested in having face-to-face or online psychotherapy services (by video call), please contact me. I am a psychologist specialized in the cognitive-behavioral model, from which it is possible to enhance mental health and good management of emotions in the face of different day-to-day challenges.
To the classic question “what do you do?” I always answer “basically I am a psychologist”. In fact, my academic training has revolved around the psychology of development, education and community, a field of study influenced my volunteer activities, as well as my first work experiences in personal services.