This is the Therapy in a Nutshell podcast. I'm Emma McAdam, a licensed to marriage and family therapist.

These episodes are filled with research-backed therapeutic education that you can start applying in your life today.

I hope you find today's episode beneficial, and if you know of someone who could benefit from this podcast, please don't hesitate to share it.

Let's work together and share tools everyone can use to help

deal with the difficult mental health struggles they're going through. Each podcast episode comes

from a corresponding video. You can find them on the Therapy in a Nutshell YouTube channel.

Also, these podcasts are educational and don't replace the advice or direction you may be receiving from a therapist or other health professionals.

Please enjoy the episode.

If you go to bed worrying about your day, your body's like, hey, let me help you out.

I'm going to give you a dump truck load of cortisol the minute you wake up.

Doesn't that sound great? This is called the cortisol awakening response. It's connected to

your circadian rhythm and depending on how you look at it, it's a blessing or a curse. If you wake up

to anxiety first thing in the morning, you know how uncomfortable it can be.

In this video, we're going to talk about how cortisol is different in the morning and what you can do about it to better decrease your morning anxiety.

Cortisol is a stress hormone that your adrenal glands pump out in response to fear or stress.

It helps your body prepare for action and it makes your

heart beat faster and it can make you feel a little bit jittery or anxious. Even for people without

high levels of stress, cortisol levels are generally highest within the first hour of waking up. Some

people wake up with a jolt of anxiety so powerful that it makes the whole

day seem overwhelming. Some people feel frozen in their beds. Some people get activated,

irritable, jittery about their day, or they engage in frenetic activity. Or that jolt of

cortisol makes some people wake up to panic attacks or feel like they're about to have one.

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