Will happiness keep me awake?

There are so many topics that keep people awake at night. And the feelings associated with them. Fear of dying, financial worry, marital discord, health issues, work stress, and school concerns surround people at one time or another as they fall to sleep. But what happens when happiness keeps us awake? Happiness can indeed keep people awake, and that happiness can be in the form of so many feelings and experiences. Here are a few ways happiness keeps people up at night.

Life milestones can bring about a level of excitement that also feels a lot like happiness and joy. Those experiences include graduating, the prom, a special birthday, an anniversary, purchasing a car or home, getting engaged, being accepted into a college or professional school, winning a game or competition, and the list goes on and on. The endorphins brought on by anticipating these events and the happiness that comes afterward cause the brain to continue the event. Positive images and feelings cause people to stay awake. There is also an added level of energy that comes with feeling happiness which can cause people to feel woken up, thereby needing less sleep. People who travel experience happiness and joy while being stimulated and often report needing less sleep. And new relationships bring about such novel and new happiness and joy that many people find it hard to sleep.

Happiness that might be too much?

Sometimes people mistake happiness for mania. If the happiness you’re feeling feels like too much or energy that never seems too quiet, it can be a concern for the health and well-being of some clients. Mania, the ‘high’ one experiences from the management of depression, is a concern because it can cause people to make impulsive and even self-destructive choices largely due to feeling really happy, even invincible. So there is nothing wrong with staying awake as a result of happiness brought on by life events or a nice evening, but if the experience is often and begins to impede functioning like getting up, self-care, school, and work, more than a few days in a row talk to a professional about the concerns.