Anxiety attacks whilst sleeping.

[Heidiiiiii]

I'm 25 years old and have been battling anxiety most of my life. Its affected my ability to work and go to some social events. But I've usually been able to battle through it. 

Recently I've started having anxiety attacks in my sleep which I've woken up to and been completely terrified by. Its happened twice, so far only at my boyfriend's house. 

Im not sure how to handle this, what the cause might be or deal with this?

[White_Rose]

Hello Heidi

Welcome to Beyond Blue. Depending on who you speak to night time panic attacks are common or unusual.  My GP has never heard of them despite a huge experience in mental health care. However I have had them quite often. I live alone so they can be quite terrifying. Last year I went to hospital twice because of a night time panic. So I appreciate how scary the experience can be.

Why they happen at night during your sleep I don't know. Not sure if anyone knows. If you have someone with you you may well manage until you calm down and get your breath back so to speak. It really is essential to have someone with you because coping on your own is horrendous.

As a first port of call I suggest you talk to your doctor. Whether or not he/she can offer any medication I don't know. Possibly some form of relaxant but these take a little while to kick in.

You have not said if you receive any professional help with your anxiety. If you see a psych it would be worthwhile discussing it with him/her. Perhaps you can learn some exercises to help get through it.

The first step I have found is identifying what's happening. Not as easy as it sounds as you are propelled into an horrendous experience. So if this happens again try to tell yourself what is happening. I do know how difficult this can be but it really is essential so that you can use your coping skills.

One exercise I learned was to imagine myself in a boat floating down the river. On the shore was the panic/anxiety, black, spiky thing which got quite annoyed because it could not reach you. Imagine yourself sitting or lying in the boat floating quietly past the island where the anxiety is marooned as you are drifting out of reach.

I learned this from a book by Bev Aisbett. Title is Living With It. It is easy to read and contains lots of tips about managing anxiety which is called It. I recommend you get a copy. There are two other books in the It series, both excellent. Aisbett is writing from her own experience which makes it more useful.

If you feel you cannot manage call an ambulance. The first time I did so I felt really silly afterwards and that I had wasted people's time. But this is not the case. Panic attacks can give you chest pains and these may not be panic but a heart problem. Anyway, both the paramedics and the doctor were quite firm that I had done the right thing.

I hope this helps. Please let me know what you think.

Regards, Mary

[Beltane]

Actually this is somewhat common, depending on the person obviously. In other people they have a nightmare first, and that's what makes them wake up in the panic. Unfortunately our brain sometimes confuses dreams with reality, so you could be having nasty dreams which your brain is reacting to with fear/ anxiety/ panic, which is waking you up and leaving you anxious. Maybe you're just not remembering the dreams because your brain is already in panic mode.

Alternatively, are you feeling uncomfortable or anxious sleeping at your boyfriends house? is it just that you're away from home? Are you going through a particularly bad time of anxiety at the moment, or is there something maybe that you're worrying about? Finding out whats triggering these dreams might give you a clue how to fix them...

Would something like having a lavender candle burning give a nice smell to the room and thus make you feel more relaxed?

There are lots of different things you can try. Obviously, you can return to your doctor and consider medications/ different medications. You could try a therapist/ different therapist.

There are awesome apps on most smartphones. On my iPad/ iPhone I have "iSleep Easy" which has both guided meditations and just relaxation music, which is designed to help you relax- you could put your headphones in and full asleep listening to it. Maybe if you're relaxing right before bed, then you'll feel less stress overnight hence no more nighttime anxiety.

You also might like to go the other way- exercise in the afternoon/ evening so you're more tired at bedtime and sleep better with less dreams/ waking up anxious. Exercise is great for anxiety/ depression anyway.

Other apps I love are "Get Some Headspace", "Smiling Mind"- both are really highly rated guided meditation apps that start easy and get harder as you learn. I do Acceptance and Commitment Therapy which I LOVE, i do it with my therapist. (i found 2 years of CBT didn't help me that much).
A book I suggest often is "The Happiness Trap" By Dr Russ Harris- full of great techniques that really made sense to me and thus helped me. There are a few ACT apps where you learn techniques- ACT Companion is a fun nice little app where you can do 5-10 minute lessons, they're quite nice.
There are plenty of other ACT apps and CBT apps...

Basically, dealing with the underlying anxiety is going to help with the nighttime anxiety too.