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Anxiety when drinking?

BenD
Blue Voices Member
Blue Voices Member

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone else gets anxiety peaks after they start drinking alcohol? It seems to have been happening to me for a little while now, but I've just got home from work, had half a beer and my anxiety has rocketed to about 8/10? I'm pretty good at managing it now with mindfulness, CBT and SSRI's but it would be good if I could conquer this hurdle as well seeing as alcohol plays a rather large supplementary role in my social life.

I did have a pretty bad experience a few years back related to a drink driving accident (I wasn't the driver) that caused me some physical and mental pain, so I suspect that could be related but I'm not sure...

Thanks,

Ben

1 Reply 1

geoff
Champion Alumni
Champion Alumni

dear Ben, an interesting comment but perhaps PTSD is contributed to this, because by drinking alcohol is known as self-medicating, which you would know of, and been discussed on here before, and actually people use it to try and help with their anxiety, but that's not to say that you begin to feel anxious.

Forgive me for asking these questions as they are personal, but were you badly injured in the car accident, which could mean that your doctors have suggested you not to drink, or perhaps your family doesn't want you to drink weekdays.

Our doctors always say not to drink when taking antidepressants, so I'm only fishing around here, so maybe you could tell us a bit more. Geoff.