question about your mornings

I do this most mornings as well, I wake up, scan the body for symptoms and determine what kind of a day it will be.  I've always felt more vulnerable in the morning, especially when I get up and it's still dark out.  I have been trying to break the habit by reminding myself that even thoug I may wake up feeling not so great or having alot of symptoms that it doesn't mean that that is how I will feel all day.  It actually works more often than not, but there are always those days that no amount of positive self talk seems to help.  So,  I think what you are doing is pretty normal for those of us with p/a.  It's so hard to break the "body scan" habit, but I do keep trying! 

Hey Threeboys,

Yep, I go through 'cycles' of anxiety that tend to last between two to three weeks. During the entire cycle I will suffer from 'early-morning wakefulness,' where I'll wake up about half an hour to an hour before I'm supposed to and start worrying about what the day will be like. Before I'm even fully awake I tend to get anxious. As Kitt said, I tend to try and force myself to get out of bed and once I get going and grab my shower and watch the morning news on TV, I start feeling calm enough to go into work, and by midday the feeling is usually well-controlled. This is more pronounced during the winter when it's dark early. I have a lot of trouble getting up in the morning during the winter when it's cold and dark outside.

I have had anxiety and a panic attack in the school playground when I have taken my son in and every school day morning I always check myself to see how the anxiety is - I want to break the habit of doing this as I am sure it encourages the anxiety to begin and I try simply chatting lots with my son prior to getting to the playground. Seems to have worked so far.