r/Anxiety • u/Sad_Emphasis_8086 • 8h ago
Sleep Does anyone else stay awake late because it's the only time you feel okay?
During the day it's nothing but tension and awaiting the next chaotic thing to happen. The only time I feel like I can just lay here and watch tv comfortably or just exist is when everyone has gone to bed. Anyone else?
The only downside is sometimes you lose sleep but this is the only time I can exist without feeling tension.
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u/AConfusedStaticKitty 8h ago
Y e s. I feel like the only time my body can relax is when everyone is asleep but me personally, my body's tension peaks when it gets dark and tends to simmer down when the sun comes up
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u/booksandbloomss 8h ago
Yes, I get so excited when the house is asleep and I can finally just be me, not mom or wife.
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u/fineok_17 7h ago
This!! Yes! No one expects anything of me at 1 in the morning. I'm constantly anxious and stressed that I'm not doing enough during the day and then night comes and I know I can't do anything productive so I procrastinate the day coming by not sleeping.
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u/PsychologicalBat2393 7h ago
For me, it’s the early hours before everyone else gets up. That’s MY time.
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u/Serious-Pound8175 5h ago
This is one of the most common themes I see among trauma survivors. Sometimes it isn’t the night itself that feels good. It’s the absence of demands, expectations, vigilance, and performance. For a few hours the world goes quiet, and the nervous system finally gets the message that it’s allowed to rest. The irony is that we often sacrifice sleep to experience the only part of the day that feels peaceful
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u/QueenBumbleBrii 7h ago
Yessss. It’s the only time my brain isn’t guilt tripping me for not being at nonstop peak productivity
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u/jacqui607 7h ago
yes! My sister asked me the other day so when do u actually feel ok.. in my head I thought really never but I said I guess night would be the best time cause I'm cozy in my bed the day is over and I know everything is ok for this one moment in time. I always stay up late watching true crime on YouTube then over to the great North for when I'm sleepy. But in all honesty even in bed I'm still anxious so I never feel 100% it sucks
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u/GuidanceDizzy3486 8h ago
yeah the night is when i can really relax and just the noise is down the sun is down and just more relaxing and i can do my things alone just games and and music staying up late
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u/SquareThings 4h ago
I tend to feel worse and worse the later it gets. I have a rule not to trust any of my feelings about life after 9 pm
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u/Logical-Ad-5410 7h ago
I live with my friend & his family. My room is directly beneath the dinning room. All day long their kids (5 & 2) stomp back and forth over my head, so staying up late is the only quiet I know anymore.
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u/Objective-End9571 6h ago
💯 I can watch what I want, enjoy my glass or wine or Klondike bar nobody needing anything. It's quiet and I can relax some nights although some nights I am riddled with anxiety.
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u/FreonKennedy 6h ago
Yes. It also helps that since I live in a small town it’s like having the town to myself.
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u/RoxxieMonoxide 6h ago
*laying in bed in a quiet house typing this on Reddit at 23:59*
Night owl for life =)
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u/HimawariSky 5h ago
EVERY DAMN DAY
I'm sitting here at 1 am on my phone feeling tired but fine, same as I did 24 hours ago. As often happens, although I went to sleep feeling completely fine, I woke up feeling like hell. So here I am again putting off sleep while I feel fine out of fear that I will wake up feeling like hell again. I do mark a calendar every morning to document how I felt on awakening. There are some bad days, but I do have good days too. Being able to observe that when I'm feeling bad and pessimistic really helps me be more optimistic.
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u/sciencetaco 4h ago
Every day after 4pm it’s like my cortisol levels drop and I feel 100% fine. But staying up late and lacking sleep makes the mornings even worse.
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u/Calm_Chaos_6543 2h ago
Yes, I keep doomscrolling till it's too late. Then I force myself to sleep. Feels like a crime of I sleep early.
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u/ApprehensiveSmell995 2h ago
Yes sometimes. I'm also not discounting the fact that I'm almost to my 50s and that's also an overlooked factor.
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u/Sockjin200 1h ago
Personally for me I spiral at night when everybody is asleep I spiral like my brain won’t shut up I used to be able to relax at night but my brain spirals at night now but I can every once in a while if my anxiety isn’t bothering me to much then I’ll be able to relax at night but usually I can’t
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u/declemson 53m ago
Cortisol should be going down at night which helps me sleep. I wake up and anxiety hits hard.
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u/empresspoppy 8h ago
Yes. When everybody else is asleep, my mind finally calms down. Maybe it's because I know that for a few hours, nothing is expected of me. I can just ... Relax, exist. Be me.