“I think of a hangover as, more or less, a mini-withdrawal from alcohol, and anxiety is one of the components,” George F. Koob, Ph.D., director of then National Insitude on Alcholol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA). Although not everyone experiences anxiety when they’re hungover—some people feel just achy or have an upset stomach—Koob says it’s a relatively common symptom of a hangover. And for people who are already prone to anxiety, it’s even worse, sometimes lasting all day and disrupting your ability to function.
It’s the flip side of what happens the night before, when you’re having fun with your friends and everyone is in a good mood. When the alcohol buzz hits, your brain gets a rush of dopamine in its reward center, explains Aparna Iyer, M.D., a psychiatrist and assistant professor at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. That rush is the same thing that happens when you hang out with your romantic partner, win big at the casino, or get a notification on social media: You feel great, and you want to drink more to keep that feeling going. The problem is, that dopamine rush is short-lived with alcohol, Dr. Iyer says. When your dopamine levels come back down, it impacts your mood and anxiety levels for the worse. Alcohol affects brain chemistry – by lowering the levels of serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter – a message sender if you like, responsible for a range of functions including mood, sleep and memory. Low levels of serotonin means that you sleep poorly, have mood swings and trouble remembering things. If you already suffer from anxiety this is not going to help.
Here are 6 reasons why you can have anxiety the next night after a night out drinking:
1. You’ll get Mood Swings
Alcohol can affect our mood because it can lower the levels of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is a feel good brain chemical that when in short supply can cause feelings of anxiety and depression.
2. Your blood sugar will drop
A drop in blood sugar can cause dizziness, confusion, weakness, nervousness, shaking and numbness. These symptoms can most certainly trigger a bout of anxiety.
3. You Will Be Dehydrated
This has been known to cause nausea, dizziness, fatigue, light-headedness and muscle weakness. These symptoms wouldn’t cause anxiety per se but they add to a sense of illness which fosters anxiety.
4. Your Nervous System is on alert
The nervous system is affected because in order for the body to fight off the sedative effects of alcohol it puts the body into a state of hyperactivity in order to counteract this effect. This hyperactivity can lead to shaking, light/sound sensitivity and sleep deprivation.
5. And so your Heart Rate is increased
Your heart rate can become elevated as a result of consuming alcohol which can cause a palpitation false alarm and put you into a state of anxious anticipation. Is it a heart attack or isn’t it you might ask. This “what if” questioning can increase your general state of anxiety.
6. You won’t be able to focus
Recovering from a hard night of drinking can also make you hazy, bring on headaches and create a sense of disorientation.
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