Does Alcohol Relieve or Exacerbate Anxiety?

The most important aspect to know about anxiety and alcohol is that if you or a person close to you is dealing with these two disorders, you need to seek assistance right away. Do not put it off. Many times, sufferers of anxiety try to alleviate it through drinking alcohol. Sadly, even if it seems like it helps anxiety at the time, alcohol will only make the problem worse and then you will have two major issues you will have to deal with instead of just one. Alcohol does not solve anything and in fact, can only cause more trouble in your life, and in those lives of the people who are around you. Indeed, research shows that alcohol may actually trigger anxiety instead of relieving it in any significant way.

Approximately 20% of the people who are dealing with anxiety disorders are also dealing with drug or alcohol problems. This is a rather large number. People who suffer from anxiety need to take steps to keep from turning to alcohol as a coping mechanism. Alcohol is a crutch that actually adds to anxiety and will not, in any way, assist you in beating your anxiety disorder that is on its way to engulfing your very existence.

Mixing Alcohol and Anxiety

The cold, hard fact is that when alcohol and anxiety are mixed, you are creating the perfect storm that could lead to suicide. If a loved one is turning to alcohol to help cope with his or her anxiety, you must find help for him or her right away. This is not easy to do; however, by intervening in this way, you will actually be reducing his or her recovery time and you are ensuring that his or her recovery will get more results.

It is a common belief that a single glass of wine, or maybe two, can set the mind at ease. This could certainly be true for a person who is not dealing with an anxiety disorder. People who are suffering from anxiety or panic, however, are taking significant risks when drinking that glass of wine because it could be the first step of a downward spiral. The long and short of it is that consuming alcohol might not harm someone who is dealing with anxiety. Even so, drinking alcohol in excess is definitely not a good idea for an anxiety sufferer. The area between using alcohol and abusing it is very gray, so it is probably best to entirely refrain from drinking when you have anxiety.

Alcohol Abuse

If you find that you absolutely must have an alcoholic beverage to make it through your day, you have stepped into alcohol abuse instead of simply using it on occasion as a way to calm your nerves. This is why alcohol should be strictly avoided if you are dealing with anxiety. There are many other productive methods of coping with the symptoms of an anxiety disorder so that it does not consume your life. Rather than allowing alcohol to exacerbate the problem, seek out a more positive approach.