Tiredness from social phobia?

[PlayingSolo]

When I last saw my psychologist he asked me if I ever feel tired or sleepy, to which I said that I pretty much always do and it takes me hours to fully wake up, and about an hour to fall asleep at bed time. I thought it was kind of strange for him to ask that, as I never thought that tiredness would be related to social anxiety/phobia. But it got me thinking. Does anyone else with social phobia feel very tired/sleepy or just not fuly awake ALL the time??

 

[thenameIwanthasgone]

Yup. Tired of it.

 

[Barbaloot]

I instantly become extremely sleepy from any stress in my life, including the stress caused by my social anxiety. It's just my way of avoiding everything I suppose.

 

[Parabolani]

Social anxiety sends your brain chemistry into a spin which means your brain can't do as much work on the rest of your body which makes you tired, that's just my theory.

Brain scans have shown that people with anxiety disorders have a smaller Amygdala than people who don't suffer from anxiety. They don't exactly know why this causes anxiety disorders but the theory is that the Amygdala has trouble communicating with the Frontal lobes but even though we have all this infomation most people will still tell you to 'get over it'.

 

[Montreal Skye]

Brain scans have shown that people with anxiety disorders have a smaller Amygdala than people who don't suffer from anxiety. They don't exactly know why this causes anxiety disorders but the theory is that the Amygdala has trouble communicating with the Frontal lobes but even though we have all this infomation most people will still tell you to 'get over it'.

That's interesting about the amygdala being smaller. One of my symptoms is a "wonky" fight or flight response, which is controlled by the amygdala. This response just goes off at will, even if I'm not in a dangerous situation. A lot of the time, it goes off in social situations. P-doc told me this response is often triggered in those with anxiety disorders due to internal worrying which then causes undue stress. When you get into this situation, the brain releases all those chemicals like adrenaline etc...getting you ready to fight or flee. It really takes its toll on the body and mind, so fatigue after the fact is very common. We're basically living in fear mode and long term effects of that is burnout. I know personally. So I think it's a normal response to social anxiety, fatigue that is.

My only solution is to stay active, body and mind. So I can fight that stress and internal worrying. Meds are a bandaid (I say that a lot don't I??) :rolleyes2:

 

[PlayingSolo]

Brain scans have shown that people with anxiety disorders have a smaller Amygdala than people who don't suffer from anxiety. They don't exactly know why this causes anxiety disorders but the theory is that the Amygdala has trouble communicating with the Frontal lobes but even though we have all this infomation most people will still tell you to 'get over it'.

That's interesting about the amygdala being smaller. One of my symptoms is a "wonky" fight or flight response, which is controlled by the amygdala. This response just goes off at will, even if I'm not in a dangerous situation. A lot of the time, it goes off in social situations. P-doc told me this response is often triggered in those with anxiety disorders due to internal worrying which then causes undue stress. When you get into this situation, the brain releases all those chemicals like adrenaline etc...getting you ready to fight or flee. It really takes its toll on the body and mind, so fatigue after the fact is very common. We're basically living in fear mode and long term effects of that is burnout. I know personally. So I think it's a normal response to social anxiety, fatigue that is.

My only solution is to stay active, body and mind. So I can fight that stress and internal worrying. Meds are a bandaid (I say that a lot don't I??) :rolleyes2:

Huh, that's pretty interesting. Although that doesn't seem like it would explain the insomnia. Anyone got a theory on that?

 

[flaneur]

You could just as easily claim that the psychologist was asking you if you're tired all the time to check for symptoms of depression, which is heavily related to social phobia and would explain your trouble sleeping. I think mulling over the psychologist's questions is a bad idea, and you shouldn't jump to any conclusions that he or she hasn't confirmed with you.

 

[PlayingSolo]

You could just as easily claim that the psychologist was asking you if you're tired all the time to check for symptoms of depression, which is heavily related to social phobia and would explain your trouble sleeping. I think mulling over the psychologist's questions is a bad idea, and you shouldn't jump to any conclusions that he or she hasn't confirmed with you.

Hmm, I hadn't thought of that. That's probably a good idea though. I do get depressed occasionally but I've never felt that it's enough to warrant taking medication or anything. Still, you make a good point.

Edit: I almost forgot. Another thing he asked me was if I ever get really cold, specifically in my hands or feet, which I thought was a super random and odd question. I mean, who doesn't get cold? Granted that it's summer time, but still.

 

[Montreal Skye]

Huh, that's pretty interesting. Although that doesn't seem like it would explain the insomnia. Anyone got a theory on that?

Anxiety, stress and depression are major causes of insomnia.

 

[PlayingSolo]

Huh, that's pretty interesting. Although that doesn't seem like it would explain the insomnia. Anyone got a theory on that?

Anxiety, stress and depression are major causes of insomnia.

Ah well, that would explain it. Seems like I always have at least one of those.

 

[Montreal Skye]

Anxiety, stress and depression are major causes of insomnia.

Ah well, that would explain it. Seems like I always have at least one of those.

I speak from experience. When you're anxious and start releasing stress hormones, your physiology gets all messed up, your hormones are all imbalanced. It messes with your melatonin production, the hormone that helps regulate your internal clock. So that's why you might feel tired all the time but can't sleep. The stress produced from anxiety and depression is messing up that internal clock. It sucks. I had chronic insomnia for 7 years.

 

[NotDarkYet]

Yeah, I think a lot of people with anxiety suffer from fatigue due to fighting their symptoms.It takes a lot out of you.

I suffer from anxiety and get a lot of pain along with tiredness.

 

[Sarah_Lbnz]

Edit: I almost forgot. Another thing he asked me was if I ever get really cold, specifically in my hands or feet, which I thought was a super random and odd question. I mean, who doesn't get cold? Granted that it's summer time, but still.

I think I heard something about this: something about cold chills and anxiety. Hmmm. I dunno. When I was feeling anxious, alone, hungry, irritable and lonely in some of my classes, I often got cold chills. Or maybe I was just cold. Or maybe being cold aggravated my anxiety, loneliness....

Now what would really be odd is if he offered to rub your hands and feet. That would be random, but it might help out with your anxiety. You should ask him!

 

[Unwanted94]

It takes me hours to fully wake up too and it wasn't always like that for me. Do you think there can be physical tiredness from social phobia? There probably is. I find it pretty draining to ly there and think of allll this bullshit and feel all this regret over [undefined=undefined]such [/undefined]petty things. Things like "I shouldn't have called her." or "I shouldn't have said that this. I should have said this instead." This is why I try my best to avoid contacting people because there's always this regret afterwards.

 

[tom_lonely]

When I last saw my psychologist he asked me if I ever feel tired or sleepy, to which I said that I pretty much always do and it takes me hours to fully wake up, and about an hour to fall asleep at bed time. I thought it was kind of strange for him to ask that, as I never thought that tiredness would be related to social anxiety/phobia. But it got me thinking. Does anyone else with social phobia feel very tired/sleepy or just not fuly awake ALL the time??

I am overweight and I have sleep apnea. To help with the sleep apnea I ended-up getting a CPAP mask, which I wear at night. What happens is I stop breathing. When this happens the CPAP machine forces air into my lungs.

Before I got the CPAP machine, I was like DONE and ready to sleep at 3 PM every day. And I felt tired all day.

Now, I do much better. I am more alert during the day, not nearly as tired.

So - something you may consider. I don't know if sleep apnea and obesity are linked. Maybe you can have trouble sleeping even if you are in great shape physically. That may be one potential cause of what you are experiencing.

Lack of sleep can cause depression. Depression, I'm sure, could be contributing to any social anxiety / phobias you might have.

I hope you are able to get to the bottom of this.


My wife had to nag me for a year before I went to go see a doctor, first about my depression, and then about my sleep apnea. Don't be stubborn. Get to the bottom of this and take care of it.

Often, when you are in the middle of depression, you are not thinking clearly, so you are your own worst enemy. You might not feel the energy or the desire to go see a doctor. Go anyway. Tell a trusted friend you think you need help.

 

[perfanoff]

You could just as easily claim that the psychologist was asking you if you're tired all the time to check for symptoms of depression, which is heavily related to social phobia and would explain your trouble sleeping. I think mulling over the psychologist's questions is a bad idea, and you shouldn't jump to any conclusions that he or she hasn't confirmed with you.

My money is on this.

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Tom, did you try the braces for sleep apnea that keep your airstream open or you went straight for the mask?