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What Causes Severe Anxiety In Night?

Posted on Thu, 11 Feb 2016

Question: I have anxiety at night is there anything I can do to sleep better at night ? I wake up trembling and gasping. Then I watch TV for a bit then sleep well. I think I fear waking up trembling then I do.

Answered by Dr. Tushar Kanti Biswas (6 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Anxiety disorder

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thank you for your query. I can understand your concerns.

It seems you have generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) which is giving you disturbed sleep,undue or unrealistic worry/fear.

A short course of a benzodiazepine is usually indicated,preferably lorazepam, oxazepam, or alprazolam,at the lowest dose possible at bed-time and subsequently prescribed on an as-needed basis as symptoms warrant.

These are prescription drugs and you need to consult a psychiatrist for that.

Regards

Dr. T.K. Biswas M.D. XXXXXXX

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D

Follow up: Dr. Tushar Kanti Biswas (1 hour later)

is something can be done without medicationn

Answered by Dr. Tushar Kanti Biswas (9 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Anxiety disorder-non-pharmacological treatments

Detailed Answer:
Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is one of the most studied and effective non-pharmacological treatments for anxiety disorders . Here one directly confronts a feared situations say a night time situation and tries to overcome -say by reading a book or writing something or listening to soothing musics for a period before you go to sleep.Various relaxation techniques are also useful-one of them is pet therapy. Keeping a pet (say a dog or cat ) gives you enough time to remain engaged and over a period of time your intrinsic fear /anxiety get erased from your subconscious memory.
Regards

Dr. T.K. Biswas M.D.
Mumba

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad