Can your symptoms of anxiety get worse the day after you have a frenzy with beers?

Hi. It’s Jenny at AnxietyBoss.com. Our question today is from Kenneth in Honolulu, Hawaii. Can your symptoms of anxiety get worse the day after you have a frenzy with beers? I mean if I had a lot of drinks the night before.

Yes, definitely. After a night of a beer frenzy, you can have rebound anxiety. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant. In other words, it inhibits the functioning of your central nervous system. When it wears off, your nervous system activity may rebound or rise above its baseline after being suppressed by the alcohol. If you already have an anxiety disorder, your nervous system is already set at a higher than normal level and it is already primed by anxiety, so withdrawal from alcohol can make a bad problem even worse.

Heavy drinking is not healthy. If you have anxiety, then alcohol is a bad idea. I know I’m being a party pooper. No, I’m not preaching to you or discouraging you from having fun- just the opposite. Heavy drinking, also known as binge drinking, can lead to serious problems from DUIs to wasted money to hurt relationships and that’s no fun.

It’s a phase that many people do go through in their youth. But a small number of the population will adopt alcohol abuse or binge drinking and suffer the consequences. Many people with anxiety try to self-medicate with alcohol, as it does tend to calm the nerves on a short-term basis. However, the downside is that alcohol is additive and your anxiety may worsen your current anxiety symptoms. If you have anxiety, using alcohol to relax is a bad idea. There are many healthy ways to cope with anxiety. Alcohol is not the solution.