What is Hangxiety and How to Cure it
Drink long enough, or hard enough and you’re probably familiar with the dreadful feeling that comes the morning after. Maybe you try to replay the evening’s conversations in your mind or scroll through text messages to make sure you didn’t send something you regret, or maybe you immediately start issuing mass apologies to friends and family.
While this can be a common reaction to drinking, it is far from normal behaviour and be a sign of a deeper issue, something called “hangxiety.”
What is Happening?
Here is what is happening medically speaking, in the body to cause anxiety after drinking: Drinking alcohol dumps a flood of dopamine into the pleasure center of the brain. The feel-good chemical swirls through your head, but the rush only lasts for a short while. When dopamine levels dip back down, feelings of anxiety rebound. Researchers think that may be one reason why people who experience hangxiety, especially those who are extremely shy, may have a higher risk of developing alcohol use disorder (AUD).
Heavy drinking produces physiological changes in the brain. When you’re drinking, there’s an influx of GABA (gamma aminobutyric acid), which causes you to feel relaxed and calm. When you stop drinking, you have withdrawal symptoms. Your body gets used to that crutch to feel calm. Take it away and anxiety often follows. Add interrupted sleep to the mix, which often happens when people drink to excess, and feelings of depression and anxiety can get even worse.
Now add the emotional component to this and it is the perfect storm! The feelings of shame, regret, lack of memory of the events, the straight-up embarrassment for your actions and things you said or didn’t say or things you did or didn’t do.
But Why?
But why do some people wake up after drinking feeling relaxed and ready for brunch, while others stay wrapped in a blanket, feeling the weight of the world? New research suggests highly shy people may have a higher risk of experiencing anxiety with a hangover.
A 2019 study looked at 97 people with varying levels of shyness who drank socially. Researchers asked 50 of the participants to drink as they usually would, and the other 47 participants to stay sober.
Researchers then measured levels of anxiety before, during, and after the drinking or sober periods. Those who drank alcohol saw some decrease in anxiety symptoms when drinking. But those who were highly shy tended to have higher levels of anxiety the next day.
Alcohol is known to make anxiety worse and you may be more prone to hangxiety if you already have anxiety to begin with.
How to Fix it
The most effective way to get to the root of your anxiety is to lay off the sauce. Yes, you heard right, give your body and mind a break from the bottle. There are deeper issues here that can’t and won’t be solved by drinking. See what you have to gain with the 30 Days to Gain Booze Free Challenge. Stop the hangovers, stop the shame and regret and start taking care of yourself. Join the 30 Days to Gain Booze Free Challenge now.