Depression and anxiety days after drinking

[Milesjo]

I suffer from anxiety and have been self medicating. While most of the time i drink in moderation on some weekends i drink alot. Apart from a hangover i feel fine (as fine as i get) the day after however 2 - 3 days later i suffer from severe anxiety and depression, i cant think straight and get stuck in my head.

[Peppermintbach]

Hi Milesjo,

I hope it’s okay if I extend a caring welcome to you. I wanted to write to you as I can relate to using alcohol to cope...the lure of instant relief from alcohol is very strong to me...

Getting stuck in your head sounds awful. I imagine that would be very intense and overwhelming...

I think it’s so brave of you to open up. You’re always welcome to write here to share or vent...no pressure of course but just know there are many caring people here reading along who want to support you...

Kind and caring thoughts,

Pepper

[DerekHV]

Heavy drinking can definitely make one feel more depressed the next day, and even for a couple of days as you suggested.

Drinking does give some immediate relief from Depression and anxiety, and it also helps a lot with physical pain as well ( eg I have Rheumatoid Arthritis), but this kind of self-medicating does come with some risk involved.

Most ADs recommend not drinking at all, and with my RA meds I am only supposed to have 4 standard drinks in any one sitting too.

Of course that is impossible to keep to all the time.

Drinking is good in moderation, but just something we all need to be wary of.

[Billyc]

Hi Milesjo,

I’m with you on this,

Just in case you want to know more about what you are going through, call the drug and alcohol helpline. I can’t recall the one I used, but if you contact beyond blue helpline they will point you in the right direction.

It really is helpful for you to know from the trained staff about the effects of alcohol:

Alcohol withdrawal can bring on the anxiety and bad thoughts as you point out.

Do you spend any days of the week without alcohol at all?

I found that anxiety stays if I don’t give myself a solid clean break for a decent period.. so far I’m managing 2 to 3 week breaks before having a drink.. don’t worry I’m not super man, it was very hard but this is much better than the overload of anxiety I was dealing with..

i started off on one day clean and built up over a few months..

keep well and keep posting about your progress