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What Causes Hangxiety — and How Is It Different From Anxiety?

Hangxiety can also be thought of as a sort of emotional withdrawal from alcohol. Drinking causes the body to release feel-good chemicals like dopamine and endorphins, but you might experience https://sober-home.org/ a comedown as your body attempts to recover and reset. Meanwhile, cortisol – the body’s stress hormone – is released both during and after drinking, and can add to your anxiety.

What “Hangxiety” Is and How to Avoid It

When the depressant effect wears off, it can cause a rebound over-stimulation effect, leading to feelings of anxiety or panic. In a study in mice, researchers identified signs of anxiety for up to 14 hours after the rodents’ blood alcohol levels returned to normal. Sometimes, your own worries may get the better of you after a night of drinking. If you wake up with unclear memories, you may naturally worry about what happened the night before.

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Adnand adds that in his experience, women, and those who experience social anxiety, are also more likely to be affected. First of all, only a small amount of people who get hangovers experience feelings of anxiety along with them. That’s because everyone’s body chemistry is different, and is impacted differently. Just think of how some people get nauseas from one drink, while others can drink many without getting queasy. Not everyone experiences this psychological symptom of a hangover.

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But if you don’t want to completely cut out alcohol altogether, reducing your alcohol intake is the best option, says Dunn. It’s easy to get caught up in replaying every little thing you said or did the night before … but you gotta stop. “We can do this by practicing mindfulness, which means focusing our full attention on something in the present moment. Our breath, a task … or by using one or more of our five senses to become more aware of our surroundings. This simple practice helps to interrupt the negative thoughts feeding into the shame and anxiety, making it much easier to manage,” says Shafir. In addition to breath work and taking care of your physical needs, you can try boosting serotonin levels naturally to offset the dopamine deficit fueling your anxiety.

If moderation doesn’t work for you, consider reaching out for additional help. “But more than three drinks can begin to impair balance, speech, thinking, reasoning, and judgment,” Turner says. Alcohol can also cause your folic acid levels to dip, which could explain why you don’t quite feel like yourself the next day. The combination of decreasing endorphins and the realization that your worries are still there is a recipe for feeling physically and emotionally unwell. She explains that when endorphins, your body’s natural painkillers and feel-good hormones, are released in response to traumatic events, their levels naturally decrease over a period of several days. Anxiety can be anywhere from mild—where you just feel a sense of unease but you’re ok to function through it—to crippling, in which you may have frequent panic attacks and an inability to go about life like “normal.”

She is passionate about empowering people to live a healthy lifestyle and promoting the benefits of a plant-based diet. That said, surprisingly little is known about alcohol tolerance. “There is almost no research on individual differences to the negative effects of alcohol,” Nutt said. However, Gunn stressed that “the link between sleep quality and hangover anxiety has not yet been established.”

Now, once again, anxiety and narcissistic personality disorder are “trending.” This raises important questions about our collective approach to such terminology amidst a global mental health crisis. Are we too casual with certain clinical terms or diagnoses, and is this truly beneficial? These terms are frequently used casually and inappropriately, which complicates the understanding of these conditions and impacts how individuals approach their own mental health and that of others. Abstaining from alcohol is the obvious cure, however, as alcohol is a large part of modern culture, sometimes that’s not an option for everybody. If this is the case, Sandler suggests evaluating the origin of the hangxiety which can help make you feel more in control of the experience.

While it’s positive that mental health terms are becoming more mainstream, it’s important to accurately distinguish between stress and anxiety. Mislabeling stress as anxiety can lead to misunderstandings and inaccurate interpretations of oneself and others. You know when you wake up the morning after a long night of heavy drinking with an inescapable sense of dread, agonizing over all the dumb, embarrassing things your drunk self may have said or done in front of your peers. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, people who already struggle with anxiety and anxiety disorders are more susceptible to experiencing hangxiety after drinking.

Your anxiety might be heightened after a night of drinking because you’re dehydrated as well. Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it makes you go to the bathroom more than you normally would. Add to that the fact that many of us are guilty of not drinking enough water in between glasses of wine and it’s very likely you don’t have enough water in your system. Dehydration, according to a 2014 study in PLoS One, can contribute to anxiety and other negative changes in your mood. A person may experience anxiety during a hangover for the same reasons they notice other hangover symptoms, including sleep deprivation and dehydration.

1. Alcohol increases GABA (gamma aminobutyric acid) activity, slowing everything down and calming the brain.
2. You may also want to make an appointment with a mental health specialist to discuss a treatment plan for your anxiety.
3. This is why people with depression often take serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Zoloft and Prozac to increase their levels of circulating serotonin.
4. The same ‘boom and bust’ of dopamine and serotonin that can lead to ‘hangxiety’ also applies to endorphins.
5. Avoid “hair of the dog” drinking the next day; the sooner you stop drinking, the sooner your brain and body can recover.
6. One is that people often turn to alcohol to deal with their already present anxiety.

Some individuals can drink vast quantities of alcohol and only experience mild hangovers, while others struggle even after small quantities. In a 2019 report published in the journal European Neuropsychopharmacology, scientists from the University of the West of Scotland refer to these groups as “hangover resistant drinkers” and “hangover sensitive drinkers.” But that advice does little good if you’re currently battling hangxiety. In that case, Wallace suggests treating the physical hangover by hydrating, resting, avoiding caffeine, and eating a healthy meal. Not getting enough of the right nutrients can also affect mood symptoms. A 2011 study on adults with depression or anxiety suggests a link between low levels of folic acid and these conditions.

It disrupts important nerve-chemical systems in our brain responsible for regulating mood. Introducing alcohol into a brain struggling to regulate mood is a recipe for disaster. It is a debilitating level of anxiety brought on by alcohol that prevents you from functioning normally. While we hope you find this information helpful, please note that it is general in nature. It is not health advice, and is not tailored to meet your individual health needs.

“Addressing the physical symptoms of your hangover can also make you feel better psychologically,” says Dr. Paul Linde, psychiatrist and medical director of psychiatry and collaborative care at Ria Health, San Francisco. As a shared experience and not a formal diagnosis, there’s no set list of symptoms that define hangxiety. In general, it’s the similar to general symptoms of anxiety, just specific to post-drinking. Another 2023 study suggested hangover symptoms like anxiety were more common among people with poor emotional regulation. Pounding headaches, nausea, dizziness, and fatigue are fairly classic symptoms in the aftermath of drinking alcohol.

Those who are the most likely to deal with an anxiety-ridden hangover are shy people, according to a British study on the subject. We’ll look at why hangxiety occurs and what you can do about it. First, let’s make sure we understand the words that combine to create this term. Physical symptoms like headaches, muscle tension, fatigue, and sleep disturbances are often coupled with emotional symptoms like irritability, frustration, and difficulty concentrating.

It’s anxiety on ten and can take you out for the entire day, maybe even longer. Medibank acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of this nation. We proudly recognise Elders past, present and emerging as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we work and live. We’re committed to supporting Indigenous self-determination and envision a future where all Australians embrace Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and rights as a central part of our national identity. If you are eligible, one of our health professionals will call youin 2-3 business days to discuss your situation and help to enrolyou in the relevant program.

However, chronic or severe anxiety during hangovers may be an important clue that a person’s body is not tolerating alcohol well or that they should speak to a doctor about anxiety. Other people may wish to prevent hangover-related anxiety by reducing or eliminating drinking. Some people may consider keeping a log of anxiety episodes that follow drinking to determine whether certain situations or quantities of alcohol cause anxiety. People with alcohol use disorder may experience withdrawal when they do not use alcohol.