If you take a daily psychiatric medication, such as an antidepressant or antianxiety med, and you wake up in a panic, it might be med withdrawal. If you take your psych meds in the morning, this means your body is at the nadir of medication blood levels upon waking. That nadir can feel like inter-dose withdrawal, which can feel like anxiety or low mood. If this sounds familiar, consider taking your meds as soon as you wake up, and remind yourself that the morning panic is withdrawal–this can help keep things in perspective. Of course we’re all anxious for various reasons these days, but I’m always on the lookout for preventable causes of anxiety so we can decrease the overall anxiety level.
