The day after drinking, you might wake up feeling nauseous and have a bad headache. You might not want to move at all and plan to spend the whole day in bed. You can also wake up feeling anxious and paranoid.
You have “hangxiety” (hangover anxiety) or you are suffering from a “prangover” (pranging out hungover), and it's the worst feeling in the world. There's a scientific reason why drinking makes us feel like this.
Drinking too much in a short period of time can lead to intense feelings of embarrassment and guilt. Alcohol is a depressant, so it can lower inhibitions and make it harder to control how much you drink – leading to hangovers and regret the next day.
'Hangxiety' - or 'hangover anxiety' - is that horrible, anxious feeling of dread sometimes experienced the morning after a night of drinking. It directly impacts your mood alongside physical hangover symptoms and, for some people, can be so debilitating that it's enough reason to want to cut out booze entirely.
They can last for 24 hours or sometimes longer – depending on how much you had to drink and other physical factors, such as body size and liver health. There can also be a psychological element to hangxiety, as you may wake up stressed if you can't remember what happened the night before.
For example, the liver will be overworking to process alcohol, you'll be tired from little and/or poor quality sleep, you're likely to be urinating more as alcohol is a diuretic, leaving you dehydrated and headache-y – and any post-night out vomiting can irritate the stomach for several days.
Alcohol stimulates the release of GABA, inducing relaxation and sleepiness. When the depressant effect wears off, it can cause a rebound over-stimulation effect, leading to feelings of anxiety or panic. Hangxiety might also be the result of poor sleep.
What to do when feeling guilty for drinking too much? Talk with your friends and loved ones about the guilt you're experiencing. Having an outside opinion about the situation can help you figure out how to address it, while also giving you support.
Alcohol also inhibits the neurotransmitter Serotonin which helps us feel good. Less Serotonin = Less Feeling Good about Ourselves.
A hangover that comes with anxiety of what you did last night and a general fear of impending doom.
Anxiety is often tied to both biological and situational factors, but if you feel more anxious in the hours or days after drinking heavily, it isn't a coincidence. Many people experience an uptick in anxiety or what's been dubbed “hangxiety” after drinking alcohol.
Main symptoms of hangxiety
Some of the most common symptoms associated with hangxiety include: Feeling depressed or anxious. Feeling overwhelmed, worried or embarrassed about the previous night, and over-analysing moments during drinking. A feeling of existential dread.
Excessive alcohol consumption can affect our mood because it can lower the levels of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is a feel-good brain chemical that when in short supply can cause feelings of anxiety and depression.
"With larger doses of alcohol, not only can a person lower their inhibitions, but their emotions can also be altered," Glasner explains. This combination of decreased inhibition and increased emotion can create a perfect storm for physical affection.
"I am so sorry for what I said last night. I was drunk, but that's no excuse." It's possible drunk you said some unkind things last night. If you said some things you don't stand by now that you're sober, text that person a genuine apology.
People who are likely to experience anxiety in general may also be particularly susceptible to hangxiety. Negative life events, depression or anger while drinking, guilt from drinking and even certain personality traits (such as neuroticism) are all also linked to mood changes during a hangover.
The Sunday Scaries (or Sunday blues, as they're sometimes called) are feelings of anxiety or dread that happen the day before heading back to work. According to a LinkedIn survey, 80 percent of professionals say they experience the Sunday Scaries, with over 90 percent of Millennials and Gen Z reporting they feel it.
The chemical aftereffects of drinking have another important effect, too: They disrupt our sleep. Both the blood sugar shenanigans and excess glutamate affect the quality and quantity of our shut-eye and “are going to make us cranky, irritable and tired the next day,” Dr. Vora said.
Anxiety associated with the thought of developing a hangover can persist for a few hours, typically until blood alcohol concentration returns to baseline levels. Learn more about hangxiety today from the symptoms and prevention of hangover-related anxiety to finding the most appropriate hangxiety treatment.
The symptoms get progressively worse.
With a typical hangover, you should start to feel better within a few hours after eating something and drinking water. But, if you're 12 hours out from your last drink and symptoms continue to get worse, it could mean you're in withdrawal.