The more you want to sleep, the more it costs you: how anxiety generates a vicious circle that keeps us awake

Sleep doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone. For many people, the act of going to bed sometimes generates a certain fear, that of not being able to fall asleep. Sleep difficulties are especially severe for people who suffer from insomnia, but occasionally they can affect anyone as well.

Very often, when the difficulty falling asleep It dominates us, a vicious circle begins: we begin to worry about the amount of sleep we are going to lose, we try to fall asleep but we can’t, this generates anxiety in us that in turn makes it more difficult for us to fall asleep. Why is this happening?

To understand a little better this phenomenonit is worth reviewing how our body makes us drowsy and makes us fall asleep. A process not as simple as it might seem.

And there are several regions of our brain that interact with each other to achieve make us fall asleep. The hypothalamus, the brain stem, the thalamus or the pineal gland are some of these regions that are responsible for making us sleep. Two important chemicals also intervene in this process: melatonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).

Our body has two mechanisms to make us sleep. The first is that of the circadian rhythms. Our body’s “internal clock” manages different tools, such as changes in body temperature, metabolism, and hormone secretion.

At night, this mechanism causes our body temperature to drop and our metabolism to slow down. It also causes our pineal gland to begin secreting melatonin, the hormone responsible for making us drowsy and falling asleep. The secretion of this hormone occurs when the amount of light that reaches our eyes is reduced, so there are those who see it as a system to keep our internal clock synchronized with the diurnal cycles.

The light we perceive is also closely linked to the second internal mechanism we have, the so-called sleep homeostasis. This mechanism is responsible for balancing the needs of our body. It comes into action to make us sleep when our wakefulness is prolonged and it is also responsible for making our sleep longer and deeper when we have spent a long time without sleeping.

However, sometimes these mechanisms fail, generating various possible sleep disorders such as insomnia. They can also fail in certain circumstances, for example when we suffer from jet lag.

Sleep problems can arise for a multitude of reasons both internally and in our habits. For example, many people have problems due to their difficulty adapting to schedules that do not fit their internal clock, for example if our cycle is later, our body makes us go to bed late but we must get up early, or when we work night shifts.

Also the consumption of certain substances such as alcohol or caffeine can affect our sleep. Other habits, such as the use of screens before going to sleep they can also make it more difficult for us to fall asleep.

Our mood and mental health can also affect sleep. Depression is an example of an illness that can lead to insomnia. So is anxiety, whether understood as a clinical disorder or as a mood.

Vicious circle

This is when a vicious circle is generated: not sleeping generates anxiety, which in turn makes it difficult for us to fall asleep. This is what some call sleep anxiety.

Sleep anxiety actually refers to a broader problem, one that can start before we even go to bed. Sleep anxiety It can manifest itself as a phobia: fear of going to sleep derived from the fear of not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep.

The feeling of anxiety is common and frequent in people, an evolutionary mechanism to keep us alert. Sleep anxiety can affect anyone, although there are some factors that can facilitate its onset.

The most obvious are the sleep disorders themselves: insomnia, narcolepsy, sleepwalking or sleep apnea can lead to this form of anxiety. Among the risk factors There are also restless leg syndrome, anxiety and mood disorders, use of certain substances or schizophrenia.

Overcoming these problems can be difficult and even require the help of health professionals, whether sleep or mental health experts. Still, it never hurts to remember some “tricks” that these professionals offer us and that may be useful.

Among the tips we found is, for example, trying to maintain regular schedules, something that is not always possible. Another piece of advice that we often hear is to avoid screens in the last hours of the day to prevent their light from affecting our cycle. We can also avoid naps, or at least take them briefly and not too late, it can also help.

Some common “healthy habits” can also help us sleep better. Exercise regularly, balanced diet and avoid certain substances can also be of help. Alcohol, tobacco and caffeine can interfere with our sleep patterns: alcohol not only does not help us sleep more but worsens the quality of our sleep, while caffeine should be avoided after a certain time as it can take up to eight hours to metabolize.

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