Here's Why Anxiety is Making You Exhausted

 Anxiety can make you feel overwhelmingly tired and exhausted, to the point that each day can feel like you’re climbing a mountain. If that is you, you're not alone; fatigue is a common but often misunderstood symptom of anxiety. In today’s episode, we’ll uncover why you are feeling absolutely exhausted and how you can reclaim your energy so you can go back to enjoying life. 

Before we jump in, make sure you download the 5-Step Cure to Anxiety and Panic Attacks that’s in the link below. It contains a step-by-step blueprint that’s going to allow you to fully recover from anxiety. It’s completely free and it’s my gift to you for joining me here today. 

Alright, fatigue is a unique symptom of anxiety because it contradicts the common stereotype that being anxious means you’re in a high-energy state. But when you’ve been suffering from anxiety, especially if you’ve been suffering for weeks or months, then you can feel completely worn down and exhausted. This can make simple tasks, like cleaning dishes or putting away your clothes, feel like they are too much for you to handle.

During my own struggle with anxiety, each day I was just constantly getting hit with wave after wave of severe anxiety, intense panic attacks, and a bunch of other symptoms. On top of that, I’d either have trouble going to sleep each night or I’d wake up with panic attacks. So, it was no surprise that as the weeks and months wore on, I became completely depleted. I mean, I was physically and mentally exhausted. I remember there’d be days when I would make it into work and I couldn’t concentrate on any task or project that I was supposed to do. Ironically, the only thing that I could find the energy for and actually concentrate on was searching for ways to get rid of my anxiety. I’d sit at work and scour blogs, forums, and order books to try to find a cure for my anxiety. Everything else though, felt like a monumental task. Even getting out of bed on certain mornings felt like it took a Herculean effort.

Well, the reason anxiety can do this to you is because when you're suffering from anxiety, your mind and body are perpetually on high alert. What’s happening is your nervous system is engaging your fight or flight response and flooding your system with adrenaline and hormones, even though there’s no threat present. In other words, your nervous system is malfunctioning and reacting to threats and dangers that aren’t really there.

This puts your mind and body in a state of constant tension and alertness, which is massively draining on your energy levels. I like to equate it to running a marathon each and every day - this constant tension and stress just completely wears you down. And the longer you suffer from anxiety, as the weeks and months pass, it drives you into a state of pure exhaustion. Now, this exhaustion affects you in several different ways: 

• Mentally, it becomes more difficult for you to focus and concentrate, and your thoughts easily start racing and jumping around from one worry to the next. 
• Emotionally, you can feel stuck in a depressed state, with the feelings of happiness and excitement being few and far between. You can also feel irritable and have dramatic mood swings. 
• Physically, the exhaustion makes you feel unbelievably sluggish and unenergetic. The activities of daily life seem far more arduous and difficult, and you will tend to push off any chores and tasks that aren’t urgent and necessary.

Alright, so here is the reality: your fatigue is not going to improve until you are on the path to recovery. We need to calm your nervous system down so that it’s not releasing all these stress hormones and putting you in this tense and anxious state. If you’re not on the recovery path yet, then you need to download the 5-Step Cure to Anxiety and Panic Attacks in the link below. It’s completely free and it will show you the detailed steps to a full recovery. 

And let me assure you that you will fully recover. I’ve taken people from the darkest depths of anxiety, where they had been suffering from anxiety for a decade or more, back to a completely normal life free of anxiety. So, I promise you that it doesn’t matter how long or how bad your anxiety is, recovery is just around the corner once you begin implementing the right techniques and systems.

Alright, as you recover, you are going to feel your energy levels improve. It’s not going to be immediate, your energy levels won’t return all at once, but you’ll gradually feel more and more energy as you recover. The reason that’s going to happen is because as your nervous system desensitizes, your body will start to once again enter into normal rest periods throughout the day. You simply won’t feel tense and anxious; instead, your body and mind will relax and that’ll allow your battery to recharge. 

On top of that, you’re energy levels will improve during recovery because you will get much better sleep each night. A lot of anxiety sufferers struggle with sleep, which is a big contributor to fatigue. But as you recover, anxiety will no longer keep you awake at night. You will fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. And there are proven ways to do that; in fact, I just did an episode on how to achieve a good night’s rest with anxiety which I’ll put a link to below.

As you begin recovery, I want you to gradually go back to doing the normal, everyday things that you used to do. Go to work or to school, even if it's part-time in the beginning. Start doing the errands and chores that you’ve been avoiding, which might mean cleaning up the clothes on the floor and washing the dishes in the sink. Now, I still want you to listen to your body and be sure to not overexert yourself, but I do want you to have an engaging task or activity to focus on throughout most of the day. The reason we need this focus is because, if we don’t, our anxious mind will just run wild with anxious, worry-filled thoughts all day and make us even more anxious. So, again, have a focus but listen to your body and make sure you aren’t overexerting yourself.

Lastly, I want you to do very light exercises at least 4 times per week. Now, to be clear, I do not do not want you to do any strenuous exercise at the beginning of recovery. That can do more harm than good. Instead, I simply recommend going for walks. Walk for 10-15 minutes, preferably outside when possible. What this exercise is going to do is help release some of the nervous, anxious energy that’s built up inside of you. That’ll make it easier for your mind and body to have periods of rest during the day, as well as fall asleep at night.

 How to Sleep With Anxiety: https://www.fearlessanxiety.com/blog/how-to-sleep-like-a-baby-with-anxiety