Trick Yourself to Sleep by Kim Jones

Author:Kim Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Experiment
Published: 2020-04-15T21:02:59+00:00

138 ✦ Stop nighttime panics in their tracks

Anxiety or panic attacks can often happen at night, as you lie there in the darkness and silence. You’re going over worries you’ve pent up during the day? Before you know it, adrenaline starts coursing through your body, quickening your heartbeat, making your breathing shallower and your palms sweaty. Or maybe you wake up in the middle of the night with a pounding heart and a feeling of dread. Whatever the case, it’s not good! The more you panic about that feeling, though, the worse it becomes.

It’s certainly not easy, but you need to try to stay calm and let the feelings wash over you until they abate. Try to slow your breathing and relax your muscles. Try to take your mind to a happy place.

If lying there agitates you further, then get out of bed and walk around slowly to see if that helps, circling your shoulders to relax them. Sometimes, having a glass of cold water and swishing it around your mouth can help, or try splashing cold water over your face. This triggers the mammalian dive reflex, which slows the heart rate. (This reflex is thought to have evolved as a way to allow us to stay under water for longer — a slower heart rate means we need less oxygen.)

The main thing to remember is that your panic attack or anxiety is not going to kill you: You are not going to have a heart attack or a stroke. Accept that the effects of the adrenaline rush will probably last for about six to eight minutes. Try adopting a “Come on, let’s get this over with” attitude to the whole experience.

Rather than fueling the adrenaline rush with fear, let the feelings run their course without trying to fight them. This will help you keep calm.

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