Why do I feel so much anxiety when I wake up in the morning?!

Why do I feel so much anxiety when I wake up in the morning?

I am bipolar and have anxiety anyway, but it seems like it is worst when I wake up in the morning

1 week ago
I do take medication and just started a new one its called neurontin

It's possibly got something to do with dreaming. Dreaming itself is not a restful activity. Dreaming is called 'paradoxical sleep' because brain wave patterns are similar to those of the brain when completely awake.

Dreaming is a state of arousal.

As far as much of your brain is concerned, your dream is real. So adrenaline and other stress hormones in your system will be active in the body.

This is a double edged sword, because over-dreaming, as well as using up these hormones and energy, is actually making it harder for the body to make more. As you try to flush out the incomplete emotions, you spend more time in REM sleep, and therefore less time in deep sleep, when your body should be recuperating in preparation for producing these hormones for the next day.

So if you are over-dreaming you're not resting but flooding your system with adrenaline and other stress hormones. If most of your sleep consists of dreams, your body and mind will begin to feel very tired during the day. Depressed people often report that the worst time of day is first thing in the morning.

Sometimes a depressed person may start waking up early in the morning and not be able to get back to sleep. This may be a way of the body trying to cut down on over-dreaming in order to try and lift depression.

This depletion is also why depressed people often feel at their worst first thing in the morning.

As the day progresses, their hormones replenish themselves and their energy levels increase, and they are better able to motivate themselves.