Anybody elses anxiety completely disappear with alcohol?

[nesky]

Usually I'm really quiet and tend to keep myself to myself. If i have a few drinks though, not necessarily drunk but just tipsy it's as though all my anxieties go away, i find it easy to speak to everybody and have no fear of blushing ot appearing stupid.

Other people experience this? I do try not to go out drinking much as i tend to binge drink when i do, so it's not often i meet new people

[snowghost57]

Why do you think it's called liquid courage? Drinking relaxes us and it is also a depressant! Be careful!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Why do you think it's called liquid courage? Drinking relaxes us and it is also a depressant! Be careful!

Exactly, it's this. And it breaks down inhibitions, which are obviously a factor in social anxiety.

It's a slippery slope though. Axnxiety & alcoholism can be found together due to the self medication route.

[snowghost57]

Amen!

[maccknight]

I can vouch for this as well but I went all the way down the slippery slope into alcoholism. Ended up I would take a swig of whisky in the middle of the night to calm anxiety. Thanks to Alcoholics Anonymous I have now not taken a drink for 11 years

[poppadr3w]

Oh, absolutely; that's one reason alcohol can be so dangerous (to people with anxiety especially) - it is wonderful at diminishing anxiety. I love going out and grabbing a few drinks and mingling with folks. I can walk up to many people, which is something I usually could never do.

My biggest issue is that, well, alcohol can be addictive and alcoholism runs in my family. I don't drink on the weekdays (unless I am off or something, but even then I only drink on weekends of holidays). The other issue is that I have horrendous - and I mean HORRENDOUS - hangover symptoms coupled with exacerbated anxiety. It literally feels like I am dying at times. It takes days for me to return to "normal," in a sense.

So, for the night of drinking it is all fun and games, but I pay the price in the long run.

It is also important to remind people that drinking on antidepressant medications can often times be a bad idea for many people. I've drank on many and I've always been OK the night of, even getting absolutely wasted. But I've heard some people may have seizures (some medications lower the seizure threshold, as does alcohol). That just sounds scary. So there is definitely a risk.

If you're drinking like 2 or 3 drinks, I'll assume you should be fine. Just don't drink daily. People like myself, I like to go beyond that once I get going, which is why it can be dangerous. I guess it's because we feel so GOOD and normal that our mind subconsciously thinks, "Well, this makes me feel good, so even more would make us feel even better!" Plus it is a social thing to want to have a drink in your hand if you're out.

[Bee84]

Not mine! I don't see what all the fuss is about. When I'm drunk I get really silly laughing at anything but I've got the same thoughts going round and round to be dealt with, so what's the point? I know someone who only opens up when drunk so it "works" for them (but not truly). I think that if you're using it for comfort or easing anxiety it usually means there's a problem in your mind and its gone beyond normal good times.

[Barry boy]

No not mine. All alcohol does for me is relax my body, it doesn't effect my personality at all. I see that as a good thing though, because I do like a little drink, but I don't need a drink. Actually the more anxious I get the harder it is for me to get drunk, my body chemistry is a bit weird.

[Dave1]

Alcohol completely removed my social anxiety, but I went down the same slippery slope as Maccknight - and I also had to give up completely.

[I Don't Get it!]

I used to get completely hammered any time I had to go out and be sociable, it removed my anxiety completely but the hangovers were vile. When you're young the outrageous drunken antics can be laughed off, not so much when you get older.

When I turned 40ish I suddenly found any amount of alcohol, even 1 glass of wine or half a pint of beer, gave me a raging headache and upset stomach before the "beneficial" effects kicked in, so I stopped drinking.

I sometimes miss having that crutch, even more so because I'd found that I really liked having a glass or 2 of red wine at home to wind down after a hard day and didn't have to get drunk to enjoy it.

I don't think my family even realise this is why I never want to socialise with them anymore. Sober me = don't want to go anywhere.

[steve_p]

Why do you think it's called liquid courage? Drinking relaxes us and it is also a depressant! Be careful!

This 100%. Alcohol used to be the only way I could get through a flight, once I was basically drunk I really had no problems with my scary thoughts and symptoms.

I eventually got past the worst of my anxiety, but will say that the secret to long-lasting change is facing your anxiety without the aid of drugs or alcohol.

[Lifeofanxiety]

Yes, absolutely.

I have tried saying this to mental health teams and some of them have told me that i'm kidding myself because alcohol is causing my anxiety, not reducing it. When that's rubbish, the anxiety was already there and the alcohol can reduce it.

I'm on a slippery slope with it now though. I don't want to drink alcohol at all, but what happens is I try and do something so easy for people to do who don't have anxiety like go to town, go to a few shops and then come home. When out and about though, the anxiety is horrendous. I become on the verge of a panic attack and so end up going to the nearest pub and consuming a few pints of beer.

This goes 1 of 2 ways though. Either I do have the few pints, get on with shopping after and go home. Or, the bad way..... Where at the pub with the anxiety under control, I get talking to someone. As I go weeks, if not months at a time at home without talking to anyone due to anxiety, this slight bit of socialising makes me so happy that the few pints turns into another, and another, and another (as I don't want the anxiety to come back), and thats when I lose control of my drinking, end up very drunk and I end up doing silly stuff and having 2 or 3 days in bed after depressed, feeling upset and regret.

[BigBoiBenzo]

haha yes I'm pretty sure it's the same for everybody

but the crash after isn't worth it

[Happyhumanist]

I am suffering extremely badly with this. I mean I'm drinking basically everyday. I don't feel like I'm addicted, but I feel reliant on drinking before any social situation. I don't even appear drunk with it anymore, it just eases the anxiety and i'm able to 'perform' as normal. I just don't know how to stop.....