bad night and developing bad day

[lennon86]

it seems whenever i lay down to go to sleep, all i do is think. and i always seem to think about bad things, i dont even try to. its like their just waiting for me. i get one thought about something, and then flooded with others and before i know it, ive wasted 2 hours and now i feel terrible. panic stricken and wound up.

it happened last night but i managed to nod off to sleep afterwards. i just had nightmares for most of the night. ive woken up in a bad mood, feeling really low about everything. have a lot to do today but i really dont see a point to any of it. no appetite, ive had 1 slice of buttered bread to eat since i got up, now its dinner time and i just dont want to eat. i dont want to do anything. and i cant keep doing this because this will be the start of the 4th week in a row. whats wrong with me, im sat thinking to myself ive got nothing to feel down about, but it just doesnt go away.

[JohnLuke300]

Hi Lennon,

One of the main causes of anxiety is the negative thought cycle. People who have anxiety tend to dwell on thoughts that makes them anxious. This increases their anxiety which can make them obsess over the thoughts. This creates a viscous circle of negative thoughts and anxiety. The best solution is to use distraction to break the negative thought cycle. You try and occupy yourself with another activity so that your mind does not dwell on the thoughts that make you anxious. This is not always an easy thing to accomplish and when you are trying to go asleep there is little to distract you away from the anxious thoughts. If you are particularly anxious when you fall asleep it is not surprising that you are having nightmares. And the lack of appetite is a common symptom of anxiety.

I developed a method to combat my anxious thoughts at night, but it took a while before it became effective. For a short term solution I would recommend some form of exercise. This will make it easier to fall asleep and hopefully result in you feeling less anxious. Although I would not exercise directly before going to bed as this will generate adrenalin making it difficult to sleep (the same thing that anxiety does ). Exercise also can positively affect your mood, confidence and self-esteem. All of which can directly affect your anxiety levels.

Hope that was of some help

John

[lennon86]

thanks mate i appreciate the response. i actually weight train every day and have done for the past 2 years. granted ive been slipping and going less and less for the past few weeks, with the exception of the freeweights in my room i do for my biceps and triceps i do twice a week. weight training does help me, but only for a while, and when i do my weights in the middle of the day/maybe late morning, im back to square one by the time i try to sleep. i used to just do some quick sets of light weights whenever i felt like that, despite me doing it earlier in the day, and that just led to tennis elbow.

so i dont know what to do

[JohnLuke300]

Maybe you would benefit from doing a bit more aerobic exercise rather than anaerobic. But I know we men don't like to lose to much muscle mass.

And change you exercise routine regularly, because if you stick to a set routine our body adapts and is no longer challenged by it. Although you probably know this already.

All the best

John