How to Manage Anxiety at Night: Why It Happens & When to Get Support
Anxiety often feels louder at night — when the day quiets, and your thoughts have space to echo. This isn’t a flaw — it’s your nervous system seeking safety. Yet, for many people, nighttime anxiety can interfere with sleep, peace, and daily functioning
Why Anxiety Often Spikes at Night
At night, you might notice:
Fewer distractions via work, children, and others, which allows more awareness towards thoughts and feelings.
Your body winding down physically, but your brain is still alert.
Stress processing from the day showing up when you finally stop.
Your mind races thinking of all the “dumb things” you said or did that day or previous days. This often looks like “I should have…”, “I can’t believe I said…”, “What if…”, etc. In the therapy world, we call this ruminating.
This doesn’t mean you’re doing things wrong; it means your nervous system is still on high alert — even when you want rest. This issue is especially true for those that have or continue to struggle with trauma and/or are recovering from a substance use or behavioral addiction.
Strategies to Calm Anxiety Before Bed
Here are some grounded, real-world tools that can help:
Wind-down routine: dim lights, gentle movement, soft music, putting on a “comfort” show (something you’ve seen and is predictable and safe).
Breathwork: slow, regulated breathing signals safety. Some app suggestions to help begin learning breath and mindfulness work are Calm, Headway, and Insight Timer.
Journaling worries earlier in the evening so they don’t pool at bedtime. There is so much research on the emotional, mental, and physiological benefits of writing out one’s thoughts and feelings down at the end of the day. Don’t know where to start? Try just writing down three good things that happened and/or that you are grateful for that day.
Limiting screens 30+ minutes before sleep to reduce stimulation. Also, it is recommended to use blue light filtering or “eye comfort” mode on your phone the final hour before sleep.
Everyone’s experience is unique so be sure to vary what you do and notice what works for you.
When Professional Support Can Help
If anxiety regularly prevents you from sleeping, causes panic symptoms, derails you from your responsibilities, or makes nights and/or mornings feel dread-filled, a therapist trained in anxiety and trauma work can help you uncover patterns driving those feelings.
You don’t have to carry anxiety alone.
Insurance & Billing Options
We accept a range of insurance plans including Aetna, BCBS, Cigna, United Healthcare / Optum, Oscar Health, Oxford, and Quest Behavioral, with Headway handling benefits verification and claims. Private pay and superbills are also available.
We service anyone virtually for therapy in Texas as well as offer counseling and therapy near Colleyville, Grapevine, Southlake, Hurst, Euless, Keller, Fort Worth, Flowermound and Bedford.
Click here for a free consultation as help is just a click away!
