Hangxiety isn't a formal term or diagnosis, but many of us know the feeling. It's waking up after a big night of drinking and experiencing a hangover with heightened feelings of shame and anxiety.
Alcohol has an effect on brain chemistry - it can induce panic because of its effects on GABA, a chemical in the brain that normally has a relaxing effect. Small amounts of alcohol can stimulate GABA and cause feelings of relaxation, but heavy drinking can deplete GABA, causing increased tension and feelings of panic.
You might not know what it's called, but you may have experienced it: a sense of impending doom and feelings of shame and worry the morning after a night of drinking.
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.
A hangover refers to a set of symptoms that occur as a consequence of drinking too much. Typical symptoms include fatigue, weakness, thirst, headache, muscle aches, nausea, stomach pain, vertigo, sensitivity to light and sound, anxiety, irritability, sweating, and increased blood pressure.
Drink, drank, drunk.
The chemical changes in your brain can soon lead to more negative feelings, such as anger, depression or anxiety, regardless of your mood. Alcohol also slows down how your brain processes information, making it harder to work out what you're really feeling and the possible consequences of your actions.
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.
As a typical depressant, alcohol affects the brain in many ways, and it is likely that high doses will cause feelings of sadness (i.e., depression) during intoxication that evolve into feelings of nervousness (i.e., anxiety) during the subsequent hangover and withdrawal.
But for some people, these symptoms are overshadowed by what's come to be known as hangxiety: intense feelings of anxiety, verging on dread, that follow an episode of drinking.
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.
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.
People can be afraid of getting better in recovery. This is because so much of their identity has been wrapped up in their addiction. It can be impossible for people to imagine a life where substance abuse is no longer so important to them. The idea of a person who is happy and sober can be a bit frightening.
The idea that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker. The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death.
“Heavy drinkers report a lot of pleasure from a drink of alcohol. That's why we think drug treatment could be effective – if we can block that high, eventually they'll learn that drink isn't worth it anymore,” said Mitchell.
Alcohol abuse can cause signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety, psychosis, and antisocial behavior, both during intoxication and during withdrawal. At times, these symptoms and signs cluster, last for weeks, and mimic frank psychiatric disorders (i.e., are alcohol–induced syndromes).
Drinking more than 2 standard drinks a day can seriously affect your physical and mental health over your lifetime. The side effects of alcohol include dependence and addiction, especially in people who have depression or anxiety. It can also increase the risk of suicide.
However, vodka was also listed by both men and women as a drink that made them feel anxious, and men told us it made them feel sad and scared. Whiskey was also frequently associated with negative feelings. Men and women told us it made them feel overwhelmed and sad.
Generally, people drink to either increase positive emotions or decrease negative ones. This results in all drinking motives falling into one of four categories: enhancement (because it's exciting), coping (to forget about my worries), social (to celebrate), and conformity (to fit in).
First off, it was found that men feel happy when they drink wine, cocktails, and IPAs (in that order), while women feel happy when they drink cocktails, wine, and vodka.