Storm at Dawn: Waking Up to Tension

"Ahh.... morning. The start of a new day, a fresh script, new opportunities. The idyllic clichés abound: sunlight and a soft breeze spilling gently through gauzy curtains, the smell of fresh coffee brewing, a day to seize. But for a lot of us (and our patients and students), the first light does not bring a gentle sunrise but heavy weather. Instead of "new day, new you," there's a familiar storm already waiting by the bedside."

"In my clinical work with folks with anxiety and especially PTSD, I've become more tuned in to asking after their experience of waking and what comes along with it. The novelty of a new day can drive not hope, but dread-and can make mornings uniquely punishing. It stains the act of waking with foreboding. Instead of the natural curiosity or freshness we might ideally hope for, there is a preemptive tightening: body braced, mind scanning. The day is framed not as possibility but as hazard."

Many people experience intense anxiety and bodily tension during the first moments of wakefulness, feeling dread instead of freshness. Waking can abruptly snap a 'grid of reality' into place, flooding awareness with date, obligations, and unresolved issues that act as specific triggers. For individuals with anxiety or PTSD, morning dread can become a repeated rehearsal of trauma, eroding a sense of safety. Naming and normalizing this dawn storm reduces self-blame and creates opportunities for care and interventions aimed at managing morning-triggered anxiety.

Read at Psychology Today