Hangxiety: The Only Thing Worse Than a Hangover
After a long night out, it is common to have a raging hangover. However, what most people don’t expect is the anxiety that also rears its ugly head. This phenomenon is colloquially known as ‘hangxiety’ and you will probably experience it as least once in your life.
What is Hangxiety?
Experts are calling the psychological distress one might experience after drinking alcohol hangxiety. If you open your eyes and feel a sense of dread when thinking about the night before, you are experiencing hangxiety. When you can’t remember what exactly happened whilst out on the town and wild panic sets in, that’s also hangxiety. Have you ever felt so rotten with nausea and headaches that you want to cry? Well, that’s hangxiety for you.
The phenomenon is fairly new and there is no single cause identified yet. More so, hangxiety is not a given and only some of us will suffer from it. Just like a hangover hits everyone differently, the same applies to anxiety after drinking. Some lucky ones amongst us don’t have a history of anxiety and so they will feel emotionally fine the next morning. However, those of us who suffer from anxiety on a regular basis or are more susceptible to emotional turmoil and are bound to experience hangxiety multiple times over.
Decoding Hangxiety
Hangxiety is partly caused by the chemical changes that occur in our brains when alcohol is consumed. Alcohol influences the brain’s GABA receptor in the positive direction, which is responsible for feelings of relaxation and calmness. That is why, when drinking alcohol, you often feel like you have no worries in the world. Furthermore, alcohol also shuts off the release of glutamate, which is what usually causes feelings of anxiety. Thus, alcohol makes you feel more relaxed and less anxious by altering the chemical balance in your brain.
Of course, the effects of alcohol eventually wear off during your body’s detoxification process. This is when the brain returns to its normal chemical balance. Then, those previous feelings of relaxation and calmness vanish and instead, heightened emotions set in. Now, you are less calm and more anxious which can feel worse after not having experienced it for a while.
Besides the scientific answer, there are other things that cause hangxiety:
Social Anxiety
People who find themselves nervous before meeting up with friends or visiting crowded areas might be sufferers of social anxiety. Thus, they consume alcohol to make themselves feel more at ease. Science backs this up as feelings of relaxation increase whilst anxiety decreases after approximately two drinks. However, as the alcohol wears off, the anxiety and nerves return, often at a heightened level.
Medication
People who are on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication should avoid alcohol at all costs. However, on the occasion that you do want a drink, it would be wise to limit your intake as far as possible. Also, read the back of your medication packaging to see if it is even safe to consume alcohol whilst the medicine is in your system. Most of the time, alcohol inhibits the effects of the medication and causes it to essentially become null and void in your body.
Emotional Detox
Lastly, the presence of alcohol causes an increase of endorphins in the brain. Endorphins are often known as the ‘happy hormone’ which reaches its peak at level ‘tipsy.’ When one starts to come down from that happy-high, these endorphins reduce in quantity quite quickly. The loss of intense happiness can cause anxiety and feelings of dread and shame to come back tenfold. Happiness also lowers our inhibitions which means we are less likely to use reason when making decisions – have you ever thought: “I’m not drunk enough for this”? Reflecting on the way you acted whilst tipsy can cause regret and shame, which adds to hangxiety.
Goodbye Hangxiety
If abstaining from alcohol is out of the question, there are some ways to reduce the probability of experiencing hangxiety when you do drink. Some spirits are more depressive in nature than others – like gin – so try to avoid those if possible. You should also have a glass of water in between each drink to ensure you are satisfactorily hydrated and your brain is not too chemically imbalanced. More so, try not to mix your drinks. If you have had a glass of wine, stick to the grapes for the entire evening.
If you are more of a ‘do first and think later’ kind of person, here’s how you could cure hangxiety: Eat plain foods, rest a lot, avoid more alcohol, try meditation, distract yourself with a fun hobby, avoid stimulants like caffeine and most importantly, treat your physical symptoms.
Last, but not least, if you know you are experiencing hangxiety due to suffering from anxiety in normal life too, try to treat that in any way you can. Whether you find a psychologist that you like or start yoga as a stress-reliever, treat your anxiety as a whole to lessen the chances of hangxiety ruining your weekend.
Whilst everyone needs to let loose every once in a while, it doesn’t mean the night has to end in disaster. Understanding what hangxiety is and what causes it, should be the first hurdle you jump over on a night out.
