A restless night can affect much more than your energy the next morning. If you regularly wake up feeling exhausted, irritable, or on edge, you may wonder whether your sleep and your mental well-being are connected. For people living with sleep apnea, there may be a relationship between disrupted sleep and symptoms of anxiety.
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that causes repeated interruptions in breathing during the night. These interruptions can prevent you from getting the restorative sleep your body needs. Anxiety, meanwhile, can make it difficult to relax and fall asleep. Because each condition can interfere with healthy sleep, understanding their potential connection is important.
How Can Sleep Apnea Affect Anxiety?
When you have sleep apnea, your breathing repeatedly stops or becomes restricted while you sleep. Your brain may briefly wake you up so you can resume breathing, sometimes without you realizing it. These interruptions can happen many times throughout the night.
As a result, you may spend less time in restorative sleep and wake up feeling tired even after spending plenty of hours in bed. Chronic sleep deprivation can affect your mood, concentration, and ability to handle everyday stress. For some people, this may contribute to feelings of nervousness, irritability, or anxiety.
There can also be a physical component. Episodes of interrupted breathing can trigger the body’s stress response, which may cause temporary increases in heart rate and other signs of physiological stress. Experiencing these sensations during sleep could potentially contribute to feelings of anxiety, particularly when sleep apnea remains untreated.
Can Anxiety Affect Your Sleep?
The relationship may work in the other direction, too. Anxiety can make it difficult to quiet your thoughts at bedtime, fall asleep, or stay asleep throughout the night. Worrying about work, relationships, health, or other everyday concerns can keep your mind active when your body needs to rest.
However, anxiety-related sleep difficulties are not the same as sleep apnea. Someone who frequently wakes during the night or feels exhausted during the day shouldn’t automatically assume anxiety is the cause. Sleep apnea can go undiagnosed because its symptoms may overlap with other conditions.
Why Treating Both Matters
If you experience anxiety symptoms and signs of sleep apnea, it’s important to discuss both with the appropriate healthcare professionals. Treating one condition doesn’t necessarily address the other, and identifying the underlying causes of your symptoms can help you receive appropriate care.
Common signs of sleep apnea include loud snoring, pauses in breathing during sleep, gasping or choking during the night, morning headaches, and excessive daytime sleepiness. If a bed partner notices these symptoms, consider bringing them up with your healthcare provider or dentist.
Getting appropriate treatment for sleep apnea can improve sleep quality and may help reduce some of the daytime effects associated with chronic sleep disruption. Meanwhile, addressing anxiety with a qualified healthcare professional can help you develop strategies for managing anxious thoughts and improving your overall well-being.
Better sleep and better mental health often go hand in hand. If something doesn’t feel right with your sleep, don’t simply assume you have to live with it.
About the Practice
Seahurst Park Dentistry of Burien is led by David Thomas, DMD, a friendly neighborhood dentist who values building lasting relationships with his patients. Dr. Thomas earned his dental doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh after attending the Illinois Institute of Technology and went on to complete an AEGD residency at the Maricopa Institute of Health Services Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. He enjoys creating a comfortable, welcoming dental experience and staying up to date with innovations in dentistry. Outside the office, Dr. Thomas enjoys hiking and exploring the Washington scenery with his wife.
Call us at (206) 244-4622 or schedule your appointment online
