Why Your Anxiety Happens At The Same Time Every Day
So why does this recurring anxiety happen at the same time every day, and more importantly, what can we do to stop it?
Fortunately, just because it’s common doesn’t mean you have to suffer. There are many ways to deal with anxiety, even anxiety that appears at the same time every day for no apparent reason.
What causes recurring anxiety
Although this particular anxiety problem can be annoying, it’s not uncommon.
Anxiety is defined as a feeling of worry and nervousness, often accompanied by physical symptoms such as sweating, heart palpitations, stomach pain, or nausea. Anxiety is often triggered by the unknown outcome of an upcoming event or situation, where a person worries about what will happen or anticipates a negative outcome, respectively.
Because our brains can learn anxiety, our bodies and brains often learn to respond to anxiety at certain times of day or in certain situations. For example, many patients experience anxiety when getting ready for work in the morning, especially if their job is stressful for them.
We can allow ourselves to feel anxious at the same time every day, albeit subconsciously.
We are constantly making connections between seemingly unrelated stimuli every day that can become deep-rooted connections.
If you suffer from insomnia, you may suddenly feel wide awake when you lie down to sleep. Some patients pair bed and wakefulness by repeating the experience of being awake in bed over and over again, so now even though they are sleepy when they lie down, lying in bed actually induces wakefulness.
Likewise, we can connect an anxiety-provoking event from the past to a time of day now. This may have occurred after you experienced a trauma at a certain time of day (or time of year, or certain weather) in the past. So you can still feel anxious every day at the same time or when the weather forecast shows the same type of weather.
A lack of distractions that normally suppress anxiety may also be a major cause of recurring anxiety. That’s why it pops up on weekends or at night.
When our days are full and busy, we often don’t have time to worry, and when our time isn’t organized, anxiety can creep in. That’s why many people report feeling suddenly anxious at night, when everything else has been taken care of and it’s bedtime.
Recurrent anxiety may also be a sign of generalized anxiety disorder or metabolic and hormonal imbalances.
Let’s say your anxiety seems to increase at night, in which case the amount of caffeine you consume during the day, medications, and certain medical conditions may be contributing to increased anxiety at night.
Other factors that may contribute to recurring anxiety include environmental factors, stress, genetics and brain chemicals. Even personal triggers like skipping meals, health issues, medications, or reminders of a traumatic event or bad memory can cause anxiety at the same time every day.
Recurring anxiety in the afternoon happens frequently
Research shows that anxiety symptoms tend to be worse in the afternoon or evening compared to the morning.
Anxiety peaking every afternoon may be due to your association with a specific time of day.
If your afternoons are typically filled with lots of tasks that need to be done—childcare, transportation, or afternoon work meetings—you may subconsciously associate your afternoons with past or anticipated stressful events that occur at the same time of day Trigger your anxiety.
When you are triggered, your anxiety takes over. Anxiety often has knock-on effects. First, even subconsciously, we notice things like our heartbeat speeding up for no particular reason, and then that creates the thought of “Uh oh, something is wrong with me,” which then causes our heartbeat to speed up. Start sweating, trembling, which can lead to more catastrophic thoughts and more.
This means that even if something very small, or nothing out of the ordinary, triggers the initial anxiety symptoms, the anxiety can become self-perpetuating, forming a spiral. This spiral can then be paired with the time it occurs.
Additionally, physiological triggers may be to blame. You may experience more stress in the afternoon, or it may be related to a drop in blood sugar.
Some people may experience more stress or demands at certain times of the day, or their blood sugar levels may fluctuate as the day goes on, which may trigger or exacerbate fatigue or changes in mood and anxiety.
Afternoon anxiety can also be caused by feeling tired, especially if you feel like you have a lot to do. Of course, frequent rumination and negative thinking can worsen mood and energy.
How to overcome or prevent recurring anxiety
Start by doing some research.Over the next few days, gather as much information as you can about your recurring anxiety.
Some questions you should ask yourself include:
- What time of day do you suddenly feel anxious?
- How would you rate anxiety on a scale of 0-10?
- What accompanying thoughts and body sensations do you notice, including thoughts about anxiety?
- What do you do or want to do when you feel anxious?
- Is there any background worth noting?(For example, did you have a bad sleep the night before? Did you have a stressful day at work? When did you drink coffee? Do you take any medications?)
Even observing your anxiety in this way can fundamentally change the experience. Now that you’re looking at your anxiety from the outside, this can lessen the intensity of the emotion.
Next, you can start changing modes. Try going somewhere else and doing something else during this time of day, like watching a movie with friends, swimming, or hiking. If anxiety arises while performing this activity, practice recognizing it and then continue what you are doing. Exercise can be particularly helpful because there is an overlap between physical sensations during and after exercise and anxiety—we can begin to reinterpret these uncomfortable feelings as part of exercise, rather than anxiety.
One important thing to note: You shouldn’t try to avoid anxiety. Anxiety is a part of life, and challenging and fulfilling things often come with anxiety. Instead, you want to be able to do meaningful things without being held back by anxiety.
It is recommended that you be present at the moment the anxiety occurs. Pay attention to where you are when these anxious thoughts arise. Once you are aware of the present moment, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths into your lower abdomen.
Learn to accept that not every thought represents a valid reason for concern, and not every thought is correct. Instead of believing the thought, arguing about it or trying to fix it, let the thought come to you, give it a label (such as ‘judgment’ or ‘worry’), and then replace your negative thoughts with positive ones.
Another thing you can try is to identify what triggers your anxiety and address those issues accordingly. For example, if you experience anxiety due to caffeine, diluting your coffee or switching to tea may help.
If you feel tired at this time, taking a break to walk or stretch may help. Healthy distractions can reduce activity in the amygdala, the brain’s fear center.
If you find that dwelling on negative thoughts is causing you to experience recurring anxiety, it is recommended to make a list of your accomplishments, including small victories, and meditate on these. Repeat positive affirmations, write thank-you notes to yourself, visualize success, and visualize victory to reduce anticipatory anxiety and eliminate the negative emotions associated with rumination.
You can also set aside time when you typically feel anxious to read, relax, spend time with family, make lists, journal, pray, do art, or travel. It’s also a good idea to ask for help during these times.