She's tried lying in bed and tried getting up. I listen to the radio. Then I turn it all off and try again. People often wake up feeling anxious. Sometimes they experience powerful anxiety attacks, sleep researcher Walsh says.
Daytime stress increases the likelihood of abrupt awakenings.
Conditioned mental arousal. When some people wake up, instead of going right back to sleep, they may quickly become anxious because they're not sleeping and worry that they'll feel terrible the following day, Neubauer says. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. When people are experiencing a major episode of depression, it's common for them to have lighter sleep and to experience the early-morning awakenings and lots of difficulty falling asleep, Neubauer says. Some describe it as a creepy, crawling feeling or like they have ants under their legs.