Sleep Issues
Are you able to fall asleep once your head hits the pillow or does it seem to take hours before you can finally doze off? Once you are asleep do you sleep like a baby or do you find yourself tossing and turning and not being able to stay asleep? Do you wake up feeling wired with racing thoughts and an inability to convince yourself to calm down? Believe it or not but sleep issues are a sign that you may have GAD, although they are also associated with other health concerns.
Again, having pre-exam jitters, for instance, is situational and would not be considered symptomatic of a sleep disorder, if you were to experience trouble sleeping just a couple of nights before a big exam. We are talking about consistent trouble getting some Zs. About half of those individuals who have GAD experience some sort of sleep disturbance.
This is arguably not surprising, as if you experience excessive worrying like we mentioned above, your brain will likely not be able to simply “shut its off” come bedtime.
