Phone: 616-217-9489 | eMail: jude@midlifetoolsforliving.com
JD's Midlife Tools For Living Practices, LLC
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Do you drink alcohol as a way to calm your anxious feelings? I hate to be the bearer of bad news…but…while drinking alcohol sometimes seems like a helpful way to ease your anxiety the effects are only temporary. Once the drink is gone the temporary ease you get goes away. And you may actually feel even worse than before you picked up the beverage!
Alcohol is both a stimulant and a sedative which means you feel more energetic and engaged and also calm and relaxed when you have a drink.
Alcohol can interfere in you getting a restful night’s sleep. It can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep after you drink. And then you end up having even higher amounts of anxiety the next day because of it. We need good sleep specially to elevate anxious feelings.
Ever have hangover anxiety the day after even if you don’t drink frequently? You may wake up worried about what happened while you were drinking. If you already have an anxiety disorder your hangover symptoms can end up being much worse.
Having an anxiety disorder puts you at a higher risk of developing an alcohol use disorder. One out of five people with anxiety report using alcohol to cope with anxiety. Drinking alcohol makes it more difficult to control and manage your emotions and can increase your chances of developing an anxiety disorder.
If you are having problems limiting your drinking and coping with anxiety it’s important that you talk this over with your doctor. Your provider is trained to help evaluate and treat your conditions and will do so without judgment!
Bottom line is Alcohol + Anxiety = a not so healthy way to cope with life’s challenges that can add to rather than take them away!
How is your use of alcohol affecting you?
Do Contact Me. I specialize in Anxiety Therapy and Substance Abuse Treatment!
JD’s Midlife Tools For Living Practices, Holland, MI
Offering Heartfelt care, Compassion and Coping Tools
