To ask why problems seem worse at 3am?

[Storm4star]

I have a stressful situation going on. It's not the end of the world, it's resolvable in a relatively short space of time. There isn't much I can do right now to fix it, it will just take a little time. I know this and during the day I feel ok. A bit fed up, but ok. But I woke up at 3am stressing about it, thinking of (unlikely) worst case scenarios, getting panicked about it etc. So I was thinking why do problems all seem so much worse in the middle of the night than in the light of day? I think I finally got back to sleep about 5:30. How do I make my rational day brain tell my night brain to relax?!

I've done this a lot over the years. A lot of it is money or work related for me. At the moment we're trying to get a mortgage to buy a house and I wake up worrying about that a lot for various reasons.

When I was younger I was a Christian so would sing a song (about casting cares to God) and imagining him having them all and by the end of the song I felt better. Funny how the brain works.

Nowadays I'm not religious but I try to tell myself "Nothing I can do about that right now", tense and relax each part of my body in turn and focus on my breathing. That works about 7 times out of 10, I'd say. The other times I'll try something like counting back in 3s from a given number. Anything that focuses my mind on something different for enough time to fall asleep again.

It is horrible, isn't it? I'm such a worrier, I think I'm always going to be plagued with these night wakings.

I get this too.

My theory is that at 3am you feel completely alone... no one else is awake, so there's no option to discuss with anyone...also, most practical solutions to the problem are not doable at 3am.

I get this often ! Because Iv learnt that it won't seem as bad in the morning I have learnt to "give myself permission " to 'shelve it' so to speak and that if it's still important in the morning il think about it then . Works for me most the time unless it's a major worry

I actually managed to sort this out for myself but it was pretty brutal. It's basically mindfulness. I just, instead of trying to problem solve or distract myself, I just lay there letting myself feel the emotion. And it was pretty tough, it felt like being on a rollercoaster that was going straight down, but it actually stopped getting worse quite quickly and it only lasted an hour or so but it was a really intense experience and since it happened I've never had another one of those long dark nights of the soul.

I concentrate on putting the "worry/issue/--person-" into a balloon and then visualise it floating up and up away. This seems to work as I'm

(Pressed post too soon!)
I'm disconnecting myself from the drama. Every time my brain says, "yeah...But....what about this really ridiculous thought" I just push it away hard and say the drama isn't in my mind anymore it's in the balloon.

It's taken me years but lately I get right back to sleep if I try hard enough to keep pushing the drama out.

Oh, I can so relate to this!

My big thing is to think about all the bad things that might happen in the future - thinking about my parents getting sick and dying (they age in good health at the moment), something terrible happening to my dd, etc.

Greetings sufferers. My time is 3:54 currently. I wake up and will literally flick through my untroubled brain like a Rolodex until I find a problem I can pick at. Typically I drop back off at about 5, which means it feels like I have jet lag all day.

I am:

Cutting down on wine
Upping my water intake
Having super clean bedding (changing the sheets every other day with everything rinsed in lavender,
Sleeping with the window open
Pad and paper next to the bed
Avoiding reaching for electronics as they have the opposite effect I’m looking for

Eurgh, I have this most nights. I read an article years ago that said it's partly due to low bloody sugar not allowing you to cope with things as well as you do in the daytime. The only way I can often go back to sleep is my focussing on happy thoughts (this is often when I plan what I would spend a lottery win on in fine detail! It really works! ).

I get this, especially with money worries. It’s led to me sitting in bed writing down figures that make no sense because I’m half asleep.

My mum always used to tell me that everything looks better in the daylight, thinking that and telling my self that I’m allowed to panic about it in the morning helps me a little.

I have to have an audiobook to listen to

I suffer from this too, hence this message at 3am! The middle of the night is a lonely time and there really is nothing to be gained from getting oneself worked up and even more tired. When I'm stressed I fall asleep far too early then wake up a few hours later. I've been awake since 1am and am predicting I will get back to sleep at about 5. Being on my phone isn't sensible but I can't just stare into space!

I keep waking at 3am with no idea why. It’s annoying as I don’t do well with little sleep

Another one lying awake here! I'm going to read my Kindle & hopefully get back off soon.

Lying awake worrying about an open complaint with my bank. Have just tweeted said bank, Martin Lewis and the financial ombudsman to try and make myself feel better. Absolutely nothing else I can do until the bank opens tomorrow, but still can’t get back to sleep :(

And at 4am......

Recently I’ve started listening to the BBC 4/world service on very low so it’s just mumbling in the background. It seems help.
I usually drop off during the shipping forecast, I love it.

Then wake at 3.....

And a cat asleep on the bed is very soothing.

Oddly I find telling myself to 'give it a rest' in the same way I would shut up an annoying person/kid is pretty useful for the 3am freakouts.

So wake up, start worrying about stupid shit, realise I am worrying about stupid shit. Tell myself off quite rudely and then it seems to go!

I know, I know, it is fucking weird, but it works! (for me)

I have this, probably weekly.
I took up a short meditation practice, I used the guided meditation in the beginning and when I can feel momentum taking hold I put my headphones on and do that, a worry is just a thought you Lee thinking they say so if you don't think of it it will leave.

If that fails, I make notes or lists on my phone so I can safely sleep knowing I know what's got to be done or fixed the next morning.