How to Deal with Hangxiety

This post originally appeared on the Ria Health Blog. Ria Health offers flexible treatment for problem drinking through a smartphone app.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

If you’ve ever had a long night of drinking, you’ve likely experienced the physical effects of a hangover. These might include a pounding headache, nausea, feeling tired and weak, sensitivity to light, sweating, and a pressing need to drink water.

But for many people, the symptoms of a hangover don’t stop there. The headache and nausea come with another unwelcome companion: hangxiety, or hangover anxiety.

Do you ever feel a sense of dread or worry after a night of drinking? Do you frantically playback everything you said and did the night before, concerned you may have embarrassed yourself or caused offense? That’s hangxiety.

For some people, these morning-after feelings of shame, worry, and stress help trigger a cycle of drinking. For others, they may simply be an annoyance. But no matter who you are, if you’ve experienced hangxiety you probably want to know how to make this feeling go away quickly, and never come back again.

So, what causes hangover anxiety, and what can you do about it?

The Science of Hangovers and Hangover Anxiety (In Brief)

What causes hangovers from alcohol? Your average hangover (with or without anxiety) is caused by several factors:

1. Toxins build up in your body. Chief among these is a chemical called acetaldehyde, which, until it leaves your system, contributes to headaches and causes system-wide inflammation.
2. Alcohol dehydrates you. This can also cause headaches — as well as fatigue and general malaise.
3. You’ll often sleep worse after drinking. Although it can make you drift off more easily, alcohol disrupts your sleep patterns — particularly REM sleep, which normally refreshes your brain.
4. Your brain chemicals need time to rebalance. Alcohol boosts feelings of euphoria, and calms your nervous system activity. Once it leaves, there can be a lag before your body’s own chemicals kick in. In a sense, you go through a mini-withdrawal.

The last of these is the main culprit in hangxiety. If your nervous system is lulled into relaxation by the effects of alcohol, imagine what happens when the alcohol goes away. Your system has been relying on alcohol, temporarily, to prevent it from revving too high. Until your own chemicals return to do their job, you may feel anxious and over-stimulated — with no clear reason.

Once you’re in this state, all you need to do is find one drunken text you regret sending from the night before, and you can be a bundle of nerves until dinner time.

Does Everyone Experience Hangxiety?

Photo by Joel Overbeck on Unsplash

Although hangxiety is common enough to have its own buzzword, it’s not universal. Some people simply experience a headache the morning after, free from emotional angst. So, what makes some people more susceptible than others?

Hangxiety can happen to anyone, but it seems most prevalent among people who already struggle with depression or anxiety, or who are highly shy.

Alcohol can help mute feelings of anxiety, which can make it especially appealing if, for example, you feel nervous in social situations. But if you have a tendency towards anxiety to begin with, the same will often be true the morning after.

To make matters worse, hangxiety can make a “hair of the dog” seem more appealing. This is one reason people with anxiety may be more likely to develop alcohol dependence.

How to Manage Hangxiety

If you experience severe anxiety the morning after drinking, there are a few things you can do to make it better:

1. Care for your overall hangover symptoms. Drink water, get some rest, eat a light meal, and take medications like ibuprofen. Dealing with your physical discomfort may lighten your psychological burden.
2. Try meditation or deep breathing. Sit quietly for a few minutes. Count your breaths. Try to notice and accept your thoughts without judging them. This can take practice, but it’s well worth it.
3. Engage in relaxing, distracting activities. Listen to calming music, or choose an enjoyable activity that helps you relax. This could mean writing, reading, painting, or going for a walk if you feel up to it.
4. Temporarily put aside any concerns about the night before. If you feel uneasy about something you said or did while drunk, put it on ice until you feel more centered. Remember, others are probably feeling the same way, and may not be as upset as you imagine.

How to Prevent Hangover Anxiety

Although it’s possible to manage hangxiety once it’s happening, most of us would rather avoid it in the first place. How can you prevent yourself from feeling anxious the morning after?

If you have a tendency towards general anxiety, it may be hard to find a strategy that always works for you. But in most cases, it’s about how much you drink, and how you care for yourself while you are drinking.

When you’re out with friends, set drink limits beforehand, and pace yourself. Have one glass of water for each alcoholic beverage. Try to limit yourself to one drink per hour. Eat before you begin drinking. And finally, choose companions who will respect your limits, and not pressure you to drink more than you planned.

If you find that hangxiety is a big part of your life, and you’re struggling to to cut back on your own, there are also programs that can help. Not all types of alcohol treatment require abstinence, and you don’t always need to identify as an alcoholic. Our program, for example, lets you set your own goals and access support from your phone.

By getting your drinking patterns under control, and learning to manage feelings the morning after, it’s possible to overcome hangxiety, and prevent it from undermining your life.