If you are feeling anxious at night, you are not alone. There are several factors responsible for making the late evening hours more emotionally vulnerable. As nighttime approaches, you may begin to feel an unsettling sense of heaviness and restlessness. Despite wanting to unwind, you may find yourself unable to relax. Add to this a rush of racing thoughts, from ‘what ifs’ and replaying conversations to revisiting old memories and imagining worst-case scenarios. It can feel as if nighttime somehow summons anxiety as you appear to become more sensitive, and the smallest things make you overthink.ALSO READ: Feeling like you're living the same day on repeat? Psychotherapist reveals 6 signs you may be stuck in burnout cycleThere are valid reasons why your anxiety spikes in the evening! (Picture credit: Freepik)Again, this is part of a broader pattern and is not personal or limited to one isolated situation. In fact, nighttime actually makes you more vulnerable, emotionally.Why does this happen? To understand the reason behind nighttime anxiety, we asked psychotherapist Dr Chandni Tugnait, Founder and Director, Gateway of Healing, who explained why the mind can feel like it is on overdrive at night.“For a growing number of people, nighttime is less a period of rest and more an unplanned tally of the day that was too loud to process. This is not a personal failing or a sleep disorder, but it is what happens when the nervous system has been overloaded for hours on end and is finally handed a moment of quiet; it does not quite know what to do with it,” she also noted that it actually happens with many people.3 reasons why you are more anxious at nightIntense stress during the day can make you more jittery at night. (Picture credit: Freepik)Let's break ot down and closely look at what the drivers behind nighttime anxiety are. The psychotherapist told us there are three reasons why this may happen:1. Brain did not get time to pause during the dayConstant noise in the form of notifications, deadlines and digital noise keeps the brain busy all day.At night, when things become quiet, stress and unresolved worries begin to surface.2. Stress hormones may still be activeCortisol, the body's stress hormone, is expected to settle at night as per the natural rhythm of the body.Overstimulation in the day disturbs this cycle.Cortisol is still high, and keeps the nervous system on alert for a threat that never arrives.This leaves the body feeling restless, alert and unable to relax.3. Silence at night makes thoughts louderIn the morning, there is a lot of noise in the street, in the neighbourhood, and at work. These distractions keep thoughts at bay.At night, when there is no noise or activity, those thoughts return and feel intense.How to reduce anxiety?The psychotherapist warned, “The solution is not more stimulation to outrun the thoughts, nor is it forcing the mind into stillness it is not ready for.”This means you may end up scrolling on your phone or watching something on TV as a form of distraction. But according to Dr Tugnait, the actual way to cope with anxiety at night is by slowing down the mind and body.Her recommendations include following a gentle bedtime routine, such as putting screens away, journaling, reading, stretching, or listening to calming music.These habits can collectively help the mind slow down and relax your nervous system.For the long term, consider practising stress management techniques during the day, such as deep breathing when you face a hurdle at work. This can help you prevent the nervous system from becoming overstimulated at night. When you begin to manage stress better during the day, nights will become easier too!Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.Adrija Dey’s proclivity for observation fuels her storytelling instinct. As a lifestyle journalist, she crafts compelling, relatable narratives across diverse touchpoints of the human experience, including wellness, mental health, relationships, interior design, home decor, food, travel, and fashion that gently nudge readers toward living a little better. For her, stories exist in flesh and bones, carried by human vessels and shaped through everyday endeavours. It is the small stories we live and share that make us human. After all, humans and their lores are the most natural and raw repositories of stories, and uncovering them, for her, is akin to peeling an orange under a winter afternoon sun. Always up for a chat, she believes the best stories come from unfiltered yapping, where "too much information" is kind of the point. A graduate of Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi, and an alumna of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, Adrija spends her idle hours cocooned with herbal tea and a gripping thriller, scribbling inner monologues she loosely calls poetic pieces, often with her succulents in attendance. On lazier days, she can be found binge-watching, for the nth time, one from her comfort-show holy trinity: The Office (US), Brooklyn Nine-Nine, or Modern Family. Dancing by herself to her peppy playlists, however, is an everyday ritual she swears by religiously.Read MoreAnxietyMental HealthCatch every big hit, every wicket with Crick-it, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Quizzes, Polls & much more. Explore now!.Catch your daily dose of Fashion, Taylor Swift, Health, Festivals, Travel, Relationship, Recipe and all the other Latest Lifestyle News on Hindustan Times Website and APPs.See Less