Category: Stress & Sleep

The first time I had a panic attack at night, I thought I was having a medical emergency. My heart was racing, I felt like I could not breathe, and a wave of dread hit me out of no […]

There was a stretch of months when I dreaded going to sleep. I was having vivid nightmares that left me exhausted and anxious before the day even started. I did not realize at firs […]

Night-time anxiety used to ambush me the moment I turned off the lights. During the day, I could distract myself with work and errands. At night, there was nothing left to do but t […]

For months I could not figure out why I woke up at 4 a.m. with my heart racing. I was not having nightmares. My room was dark and quiet. Eventually, a doctor explained that my cort […]

My mind used to treat bedtime like a problem-solving marathon. The moment I lay down, my brain would replay conversations, plan tomorrow, and worry about things I could not control […]

After months of lying awake for hours, I finally admitted that my insomnia was not going away on its own. A sleep specialist recommended cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, […]

I used to wake up at 3 a.m. with my brain running a highlight reel of every mistake, deadline, and awkward conversation I had ever experienced. The harder I tried to fall back asle […]

Every Sunday evening around six, a familiar feeling crept in. My chest tightened, my mind started listing everything waiting for me on Monday, and the relaxed weekend mood vanished […]

For most of my thirties, my workday never really ended. Emails arrived at nine in the evening, Slack messages popped up during dinner, and my laptop lived on the kitchen table. I t […]

I used to think relaxing meant lying still and waiting for sleep to arrive. It never worked. My body could be motionless while my jaw, shoulders, and hands stayed clenched. I would […]