How Anxiety Affects Your Sleep (and What You Can Do About It)

If you've ever laid in bed with your mind racing, you're not alone. Anxiety is one of the most common

causes of sleep disturbances, especially for high-functioning individuals who hold it all together by

day-but can't turn their brains off at night.

Anxiety triggers the body's stress response, releasing cortisol and adrenaline-the same chemicals

responsible for fight-or-flight mode. While this is helpful if you're escaping danger, it's the opposite of

what your body needs to fall asleep. Instead of relaxing into rest, your heart races, your thoughts

spiral, and your body stays on high alert.

Sleep struggles can also make anxiety worse. When you don't get enough restorative rest, your

brain has a harder time regulating emotions, making you more reactive, irritable, or overwhelmed

the next day. It becomes a frustrating cycle: anxiety disrupts sleep, and lack of sleep fuels more

anxiety.

Over time, your brain may even start to associate your bed with stress, not rest.

The good news? With the right tools, this cycle can be broken.

In therapy, we use proven techniques like CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia) to help

retrain your mind and body to fall asleep naturally. We also tap into your brain's Reticular Activating

System (RAS), which filters information and influences focus-so you can learn to redirect anxious

attention toward calm and safety.

If you're tired of being tired, and anxious about being anxious, you're not alone-and you don't have

to figure it out by yourself. Therapy can help.