If alcohol use can temporarily relieve the symptoms of an anxiety disorder, how is it possible that alcohol can also cause anxiety?
Does alcohol make you anxious? Many people with social anxiety disorder have experienced the effects of alcohol that take away their fear of social situations. Yet, the next morning, they feel intense panic and stress, leading them to seek out an effective hangover anxiety cure.
What are the effects of alcohol drinking on the brain? Alcohol consumption is toxic to the brain. Among other regions affected, alcohol has deleterious effects on the amygdala, the region responsible for emotional regulation.
Having a drink in a busy bar may help to prevent a panic attack, but ongoing alcohol abuse often leads to even more severe anxiety. Alcohol and anxiety have a complex relationship. Social anxiety and alcohol do not go well together in the long run.
Alcohol withdrawal often causes anxiety symptoms. In addition to a heightened anxiety level, people experiencing withdrawal symptoms from quitting alcohol cold turkey often get shakes and tremors.
Heavy drinking leads to alcohol anxiety which leads to more alcohol consumption, and eventually alcohol dependence. Alcohol-induced anxiety causes further alcohol misuse, and eventually leads many people to a diagnosis of alcohol use disorder.
Generalized anxiety disorder is often a co-occurring disorder with alcohol use disorder.
People who have anxiety disorders find it difficult to get adequate treatment. They are either hesitant to seek medical treatment, or they find that medical treatment does not provide significant relief.
Mental health professionals have had success treating anxiety with cognitive behavioral therapy and other therapeutic tools. However, when a person with anxiety visits a medical doctor, they are often simply prescribed psych drugs, a treatment option that either does not help, or can make the problem worse.
Unfortunately, along the way, a person with a panic disorder may find that drinking alcohol provides good short-term relief from the persistent physical symptoms of anxiety. An alcoholic beverage seems to smooth over the rough edges of a life troubled by an anxiety disorder.
People with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are at high risk for alcohol addiction, due to excessive use of alcohol to treat their anxiety-related symptoms. In addition to alcohol, they may engage in other substance use, including benzodiazepine or opioid use.
Alcohol rehab facilities often label their clients as being dual-diagnosed, because they have a substance use disorder and an additional mental illness. Addiction treatment programs use dual diagnosis status to facilitate insurance billing, but often the mental illness symptoms subside over time after stopping substance abuse.
Can Alcoholics Anonymous help with alcohol and anxiety?
Alcoholics Anonymous, or AA, has helped many people to stop drinking. When a person in AA is sober, the program offers spiritually based therapeutic tools to help with deep-seated issues that may have led to anxiety.
When a person first walks into an AA meeting, they are often greeted at the door and offered a cup of coffee. While alcohol and caffeine anxiety are not a good combination, a warm cup of coffee with new sober friends can be enjoyable.
If you have ever woken up with a severe hangover, with a headache and intolerable anxiety, you may have searched all over for a good hangover anxiety cure. While looking for a hangxiety treatment, you come across various programs that can help you stop drinking.
Alcoholics Anonymous is a program that does not cost money to attend or join. It is a free, self-supporting abstinence-based, spiritual program. When searching for help, many rehab websites offer pricey inpatient stays, so it is nice to find an alcohol program that welcomes anyone who wants to stop drinking, regardless of insurance or financial status.
In addition to AA, there are other great programs that are also self-supporting and free to attendees. SMART Recovery is an excellent alternative to AA. It is a science-based program that applies the principles of CBT in a group meeting setting.
What is the best way to deal with an anxiety-inducing social situation where alcohol is being served?
Life is already stressful enough, but going out to a bar or nightclub, or even a family gathering can be highly stressful. Unfortunately, many stress-inducing events provide alcohol to help smooth over the social anxiety of being confronted by a crowd of people.
One solution is to avoid unpleasant social situations whenever possible. There is no need for most people to go out to a nightclub or bar. These establishments are not good for people at risk for drug abuse and drug addiction, including alcohol addiction.
Family gatherings, on the other hand, are not as easy to avoid. When confronted with a family dinner, instead of drinking wine or beer, you can choose to drink water, or another non-alcoholic beverage.
When stress levels get too high, you have a right to excuse yourself and take a break. Simply get up and walk outside for a breath of fresh air. Meditate on the sounds around you for a few minutes, and when you feel ready, you can return to the table.
No one has the right to hold your anxiety hostage. If you feel stressed by the people around you, you should always be able to walk away to take a break from socially-induced anxiety.
Can benzodiazepines help with anxiety as an alternative to drinking?
Alcohol detox programs use benzos as part of the detox protocol, in order to protect the client from dangerous seizures. Alcohol withdrawal is a dangerous state, and short-term benzodiazepine use can protect the brain during detox.
However, the benzo, whether it is Ativan, Librium, or Valium, should be tapered within a short time. Unfortunately, some detox clients see the relaxing effects of benzos as a good long-term solution, not realizing that these medications are not intended for long-term use.
Some rehab staff members will explain that benzodiazepines are like alcohol in a pill, and not good for recovering from an alcohol addiction. They describe it as replacing one drug with another.
It is true that long-term benzodiazepine use is not good for most people, but the reasons go beyond the issue of ongoing dependence on a substance. Benzos can be toxic to the brain over long periods of use.
For many years, doctors believed that the benzodiazepine drugs, when used properly, were very safe, even when used for years. However, in recent years, researchers have discovered that these medications have serious effects on the brain that are difficult to overcome.
As bad as alcohol withdrawal can be, benzodiazepine withdrawal is much worse for some people. They may experience serious long-term adverse effects, including the movement disorder, akathisia.
How can an alcohol addiction treatment doctor help me to quit drinking?
A concierge addiction doctor can provide medication-assistant treatment to help patients overcome an alcohol addiction problem. There are multiple ways to treat alcohol dependence.
Some doctors offer at-home detox, providing a nurse and a medical detox protocol to help the patient safely detox from alcohol. Medical support is essential for this type of detox program because of the dangers of alcohol withdrawal.
A doctor who offers the Sinclair Method, also known as pharmacological extinction, will prescribe naltrexone to patients. This harm-reduction method helps patients to reduce their alcohol consumption over time by using extinction events of planned drinking after taking a naltrexone drinking after taking a naltrexone pill.
Other medications have been proven beneficial as well, including acamprosate, topiromate, and gabapentin. Ondansetron and baclofen are other medications that have been discussed as having therapeutic benefits to help in overcoming an alcohol addiction.
If you are concerned about gray area drinking or the possibility that you may have an alcohol use disorder, you may want to schedule an appointment with an alcohol treatment doctor. If you live in the greater Miami area, please consider visiting our Miami Suboxone and alcohol addiction treatment program.
