Alcohol and Anxiety

Many alcoholics or binge drinkers tend to suffer from anxiety and tend to drink more alcohol as a way to cope with their anxiety. This problem with this coping strategy is that alcohol can actually cause and/or increase anxiety. So the very thing alcoholics are doing to try to cope with their anxiety is probably making it worse. This is why alcoholics should learn how to stop drinking alcohol altogether. Now, not every single alcoholic suffers from anxiety and not everyone with anxiety is an alcoholic, but the two have definitely been linked by the scientific community.

If you have anxiety then you should work to limit your alcohol consumption. Here are the 6 ways alcohol negatively affects your anxiety level.

Heart Rate: Alcohol can make your heart rate increase, sometimes dramatically. When this happens you may feel like you're having heart palpitations and may wonder if you are experiencing a heart attack. Wondering regularly if you are having a heart attack or if you might have a heart condition will of course increase your general anxiety level.
Drop in Blood Sugar: A quick or overall drop in blood sugar can cause dizziness, nervousness, weakness, confusion and numbness. As with an increase in your heart rate, these types of symptoms can make you wonder if there is something wrong with you physically. Constantly worrying about your physical state will only negatively affect your mental state and increase the amount of anxiety you experience in your life.
Mood: Your overall mood is affected by the neurotransmitters, or chemicals, in your brain. Serotonin is known as the "feel good" chemical as normal levels of this chemical can make you feel happy. Alcohol causes a drop in serotonin in your brain which in turn can cause depression and anxiety.
Concentration: Anyone that has ever had too much to drink can relate to the lack of concentration you feel while under the influence or the next morning. The haziness, disorientation and headaches can make anyone feel bad and bring on more anxiety.
Nervous System: When you consume too much alcohol for your body to dispose of easily it puts stress on your nervous system. Your nervous system must go into a hyperactive mode in order to fight off the sedative effects of alcohol. This fact can lead to sleep deprivation, light and sound sensitivity and sometimes shaking. All of these symptoms can make a person feel anxious.
Dehydration: If you've ever tied one on you know how thirsty you can feel the next day, but did you know that dehydration can lead to nausea, muscle weakness, dizziness and light headedness. These symptoms alone don't specifically cause anxiety, but their cumulative effect can definitely make a person very uneasy.

If you have an anxiety disorder alcohol is not a well thought out coping mechanism for you. Then again, one drink may not be harmful especially if it is part of your usual social behavior. Sometimes trying to change our behaviors can cause anxiety too so the best thing to do is to test this out. If stopping drinking all together causes you anxiety in social situations then stick to just one or two and use the tips above.

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