Surely it has happened to you that you have had days with a lot of stress, in which you feel tired, anxious and all you want is to relax for a moment, then you decide to have a glass of wine or simply want to have a good time with your friends. And yes, at that moment you feel so relaxed and euphoric, but the day after drinking alcohol you may experience even more anxiety.
For some people, alcohol produces sensations contrary to what we would like, and we feel tired, depressed, and anxious. Do not worry this has a scientific explanation, and we are here to tell you.
Post-alcohol anxiety
Mark Jaffe, a psychiatrist at The Beach House Treatment Center, says: “People feel anxious after drinking because alcohol directly affects neurotransmitters in the brain and causes one to initially experience calm and euphoria.” However, the relaxation effects and pleasurable effects only last a few hours, because then hangover symptoms such as headache, anxiety, and rapid heart rate are magnified in people who are sensitive to having panic attacks or anxiety.
What does anxiety feel like?
Maybe you have felt some of these symptoms and do not know that it is anxiety, so here we tell you 9 ways in which it manifests:
- Sweating.
- Restlessness.
- Fast heart rate.
- Tremors.
- Tension.
- Overwhelm.
- Unnecessary worry.
- Avoid people.
- Avoid responsibilities.
Dehydration and feeding
Alcohol causes dehydration, and this can affect our mood and increase anxiety symptoms. In addition, alcohol in excess causes some of our essential vitamins for our mental health, such as vitamin B and magnesium, to be depleted.
Our mood
Everyone is different, and we are all going through different things in life, so our reaction to alcohol is not going to be the same, to begin with, our genetics play a very important role, and also our tolerance to alcohol.
Alcohol serves as an amplifier of our emotions, everything we feel intensifies, so if we are going through a sad time or we are stressed, the chances of having post-alcohol anxiety are higher.
All this does not mean that you have to stop drinking alcohol, remember that everything with measured, and if you do not have a history of an alcohol use disorder, now that you know some of the reasons why anxiety is experienced, you can have a slightly more responsible and balanced approach.
You can try to drink more slowly, drink water between drinks, practice meditation, and not drink on an empty stomach, this is to avoid the risks of post-alcohol anxiety and remember that your mental health comes first.
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