Anxiety and Alcohol Use Disorders: Comorbidity and Treatment Considerations Alcohol Research: Current Reviews

Sometimes, no matter what I do, the only thing that abates my post-drinking anxiety is waiting it out. At the very least, I find comfort in remembering that my shaky-emotional-ground feeling, no matter how intense, will dissipate soon enough. As Dr. Greenfield puts it, “Time is on your side.” Just breathe, take care of yourself, and remember that hangxiety isn’t forever. If anxiety makes it difficult for you to cope with work responsibilities, interpersonal relations, or other key aspects of your daily life, make an appointment with a therapist for a diagnosis and treatment, rather than relying on alcohol. With that in mind, it’s only natural to consider cutting back on the cocktails.

What are the immediate clinical implications of coexisting depressive and anxiety states among alcoholics?

Once you’ve cut down your drinking (or stopped drinking altogether), keep going like this for a couple of weeks. Most people can expect to see an improvement in their anxiety symptoms in this time as the brain’s balance of chemicals and processes start to return to normal and you experience better quality sleep6. Any anxiety disorder can be dangerous, but some have become more notorious than those listed above. Both Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are sometimes considered anxiety disorders. Phobias, while they can be connected to and trigger any of the disorders above, can also be their own independent disorder.

Why Medications and Alcohol Don’t Mix

If you are not sure if you can safely drink alcohol while taking a certain medication, read the label carefully and consult with a pharmacist or doctor. In some cases, mixing alcohol with medications can lead to an overdose or alcohol poisoning—both does alcohol cause panic attacks of which are potentially life-threatening medical emergencies. If you lie about the amount of alcohol you consume on a regular basis, your doctor can’t accurately judge the risks and benefits of prescribing a particular medication.

Lifestyle changes and treatment options for anxiety

The brain’s stress systems, including corticotropin releasing factor and norepinephrine in the central amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, become increasingly dysregulated because of between-system compensatory neuroadaptations. At this point in the addiction process, subjective negative affect predominates, especially during periods of sobriety and withdrawal. This later stage of addiction marks a shift from impulsive use driven by positive reinforcement to compulsive use driven by negative reinforcement. In this stage, compulsive substance use is aimed, in part, at decreasing the negative affect caused or aggravated by the allostatic reset in the brain’s stress and mood systems.

Anxiety disorder diagnoses

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People with anxiety may be at increased risk of alcohol use disorder

• Having an alcoholic drink while you are taking medications to treat prostate conditions can cause dizziness, lightheadedness, and fainting.
• Advocates of this approach point out that it may be prudent to begin, for example, by treating a client’s alcohol problem and waiting to see whether abstinence leads to remission of the psychiatric problem (e.g., Allan et al. 2002; Schuckit and Monteiro 1988).
• The following list of medications that shouldn’t be mixed with alcohol isn’t exhaustive.