Shari has given you some great advice so I don't have too much to add. You may want to check out the answers in the Questions to the Expert sections though. There are answers relaxed to anxious thoughts and night panic that may help you.
Night anxiety is common. What I've found is that, in the past, when I've had panic, I associated the cause of it to be with whatever situation I was in at the time. For example, I had a panic attack in the shower and I associated the shower with the cause of it, which it was not. I also used to have panic attacks in the car, particularly at red traffic lights. I associated the panic with driving and being stuck at lights. Panic attacks are usually triggered by something other than what we think. I believe it's in Session 1 about finding what triggers your panic. Then when you know what it is or what they are, you can counteract them. Something else triggered your panic, not the night and now you associate the night with anxiety. For me, I found out that one of my triggers was physical. I would feel nervous and focus on that symptom which would launch a chain of physical feelings until I was in full blown panic mode. I would literally pull out a sheet of paper from my purse and read out loud, truthful statements to counteract the negative thoughts whirling in my head. Something like, "This is just a temporary uncomfortable feeling", "My brain is just giving me a false alarm, I am not in danger", By the time I got to the end of the paper, the light was green and I didn't panic. I don't have to read the paper anymore. The mind is very powerful. It can talk us into things and out of things. Let's say you feel great and then someone says, "Wow. You look terrible. Are you feeling okay?" All of a sudden you think, "Wow. Some thing must be wrong with me." Then you believe it and the next thing you know you aren't feeling well. If you replace that with a positive statement, "Well, thanks for your concern, but I feel fine." You keep yourself from going down hill, with your thoughts and you can continue your day and feel great.
It seems as of late, that I have been having issues when it becomes night. As if night itself is the fear. I do not know why, except I had a terrible attack the other day and since then I have had this fear. A new fear that is rather new, and one for which I certainly cannot allow to exist. How can a person live a life in fear of the night? No practical...
Any suggestions on how I should go about fighting this issue? Any methods that may be of use?
