Panic Attacks While Sleeping
Panic attacks can happen in more than just daylight hours. Panic attacks can occur while you sleep, and they can wake you up with a racing heart and fearful mind.
Panic attacks while sleeping are some of the scariest and most feared of all panic disorder problems. Especially because they strike without warning, and can even start to affect your health.
The interesting part of panic attacks is that they aren’t really a condition. They are really symptoms of built-up stress and anxiety that hasn’t been properly dealt with. When you go through major life changes, stress and anxiety can build up. You might not even know what the source of that stress is, and maybe you haven’t even experienced a daytime panic attack.
That built up stress can really start to effect you when you go to sleep though. You can think of a panic attack as a release valve that lets stress free but leaves you feeling like your heart or breathing is having problems. That’s even more disconcerting when it wakes you up from a sleep.
Panic attacks don’t represent physical problems at first, but they can cause physical problems when not addressed. It’s easy to become scared of more panic attacks once they start waking you up in the middle of the night. You can start to think you have a serious medical condition.
All that worry and fear can turn into insomnia. That insomnia can lead to real health problems, like weight gain, sore muscles, headaches, and an inability to be productive during the day.
The real underlying physical cause of sleep panic attacks isn’t known. Relieving the source of stress or learning to control the panic episodes is how you’ll eventually find relief from them.
Information, treatments and resources are available (both professional and at-home treatments) that can help you rid yourself of anxiety and panic disorder. Some of those resources and techniques can also help cure panic attacks while sleeping as well. Medication or medical attention can also be used in the severest of cases. Just keep in mind that medication should be used temporarily until you can find the actual source of stress in your life.
Stress is the real cause, no matter how you find relief from the symptoms of panic attacks. To completely free yourself from panic attacks for good, you will have to fix that source of stress in your life. Once you’ve done that, you can sleep easy without the fear of another attack.