What Is Hangxiety and How to Avoid It

Hangxiety—that dreaded combination of hangover symptoms and anxiety—affects millions of people who drink alcohol, creating a vicious cycle that can perpetuate unhealthy drinking patterns. From dietary changes and supplements to mindfulness practices and breathing exercises, there are many ways to reduce ongoing symptoms of anxiety. Hangxiety is the combination of hangover symptoms and anxiety that occurs after drinking alcohol. Mental health experts believe people may be more likely to develop hangxiety if they feel guilty or anxious about their drinking.

They might also create some major challenges, both for your health and in your daily life. Or you’re turning to alcohol to ease tension and unwind most days, rather than once in a while. Anxiety can happen for a lot of reasons, but one possible cause could relate to alcohol use itself. If you were with a close friend, you might feel reassured by talking to them. You can meditate while sitting or even lying in bed, if you don’t feel up to being upright. Deep, slow breathing can help you relax and slow a racing or pounding heart.

Natural Remedies for Anxiety

Dr Laura Keyes is a clinical psychologist with a wealth of experience supporting young people and adults. 10 diet and lifestyle tips to help manage stress10 mindfulness tips for working from homeTop 10 mindfulness exercises for kidsWhat are the benefits of CBD oil? Aromatherapy, using essential oils, can be a powerful aid for reducing anxiety, some uplifting mood and others with calming properties. They include group classes to teach mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and individual mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). Some effective breathing exercises include breathing, diaphragmatic breathing and box breathing. To help you find what works for you, we’ve looked into different types of anxiety, effective management strategies, and products that can support reducing anxiety.

Here, we asked mental health experts to share some of their top natural remedies for anxiety. “A lot of people struggle with some sort of anxiety — it’s very normal and common,” says Rachel Goldman, Ph.D., a clinical assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, who takes a holistic approach to mental health. Some people with anxiety use natural remedies alongside conventional treatments to find relief. High doses of caffeine were also found to induce feelings of anxiety in healthy adults.

Mindfulness Integration

While these natural remedies can certainly help ease anxiety in the moment, seeing a therapist or talking to a psychiatrist about whether medication could help may be necessary if you’re experiencing constant or severe anxiety. If you’re stressed or anxious on the physiological level, you might be sweating, or your heart might be racing, and putting cold water on your face can kickstart a change in these symptoms through activating your parasympathetic nervous system. You might have heard of cold plunges as a new wellness trend, and there’s science behind how taking the plunge may help ease anxiety through boosting feel-good chemicals like dopamine and other endorphins. It works by exerting deep pressure on the user, which is thought to release serotonin, a chemical in the body that makes you feel happy and calm.

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Magnesium Glycinate: The GABA Modulator

• Drinking alcohol is common and widely accepted in our culture.
• A term that is the combination of the words hangover and anxiety, hangxiety is the feeling of anxiousness that may accompany a hangover.
• Generally, for moderate drinkers, brain chemistry starts to normalize within a few hours to a day as the alcohol is metabolized and cleared from the body.

Hangxiety often perpetuates drinking patterns as people seek relief through “hair of the dog” approaches or develop anxiety around social situations. You may experience hangxiety if you are sleep-deprived after a night of drinking. When you stop drinking after a period of heavy alcohol consumption, your body begins to detoxify. As the effects of alcohol wear off, people may experience anxiety. Here are some of the things that may cause hangxiety after drinking alcohol. Mental health experts have only recently begun using the term “hangxiety” to describe the anxiety that can accompany a hangover.

Get additional sleep after a night of drinking and allow yourself a relaxed day if possible. Some alcoholic drinks can trigger hangxiety more than others. Managing and preventing hangxiety involves practical strategies that can help you enjoy social occasions without the unwanted after-effects of anxiety. For example, certain genetic traits can enhance or inhibit the activity of enzymes involved in alcohol metabolism, impacting the duration and intensity of alcohol’s effects on the brain and body.

Anxiety can be anywhere from mild—where you just feel a sense of unease but you’re ok to function through it—to crippling, in which you may have frequent panic attacks and an inability to go about life like “normal.” Your dopamine production is impacted, as is your glutamate production, so you might not feel as happy as usual when you’re hungover. We’ll look at why hangxiety occurs and what you can do about it. You might experience sweating, a racing heart, or feeling on edge.

Get your body right

Practicing mindful deep breathing techniques is also beneficial during anxiety attacks. There are natural ways to manage an anxiety attack. People with anxiety may use nicotine to cope temporarily—but nicotine is not a natural remedy for anxiety. Nicotine use rates are higher in people with anxiety disorders. What’s left is an increase in anxiety as the alcohol leaves your system.

From pain to digestive problems and more, the signs and symptoms of too much stress are easy to spot – once you know what to look for. Several studies also show that smoking can worsen symptoms of anxiety. After taking a drink, however, your anxiety may worsen. The pressure helps to put your body into “rest mode,” reducing those symptoms and preparing your body to rest. Research shows that weighted blankets can be beneficial for alleviating symptoms of anxiety. Rapid, shallow breathing is a common symptom of anxiety.

Is hangxiety a sign of alcohol intolerance or a deeper anxiety issue?

It also increases the risk of alcohol use disorder in people with pre-existing mental health conditions. If you’re planning on drinking, taking all the standard steps to avoid a hangover will also help you avoid hangxiety. Additionally, your hangover and accompanying anxiety may be more intense if you weren’t well hydrated and fed prior to drinking. Alcohol also might reduce the effectiveness of your anxiety medication, if you take it, further leading to anxiety after drinking.

When to Consult Healthcare Providers

People are also more likely to indulge in foods that might also trigger anxious feelings. Plus, despite your best efforts, you probably don’t drink as much water as you should when you’re drinking. During this time, you might feel restless, anxious, nervous, or jittery, just as you might if you were Hangxiety relief dealing with more severe alcohol withdrawal. “Many people use alcohol as a social lubricant,” says Cyndi Turner, LSATP, MAC, LCSW. The whole concept of hangover-related anxiety is fairly new, and experts haven’t identified a single cause. If you have any concerns about your general health, you should contact your local health care provider.

• While hangxiety can be a normal short-term response to alcohol, recurring or intense episodes may signal an underlying anxiety disorder or alcohol sensitivity.
• A 2011 study on adults with depression or anxiety suggests a link between low levels of folic acid and these conditions.
• Alcohol can impact your body and mind in different ways.
• Your medications may be less effective, and you may feel anxious, restless, or agitated.
• High doses of caffeine were also found to induce feelings of anxiety in healthy adults.

It’s also possible to experience mood-related symptoms, including feelings of anxiety. So at first, drinking alcohol may seem to help numb any physical or emotional pain you’re feeling. Physical hangover symptoms can add to anxiety and make you feel even worse. While alcohol can help make you feel more relaxed, it can also have less-than-positive effects on your mental and physical health.

Goldman recommends the 5-finger technique, especially for children with anxiety; put one hand out in front of you and trace it with your other hand, inhaling when you trace up the finger, and exhaling when you trace down the finger. There are many deep breathing techniques to try, including the three-part breath, box breathing and Bahya Pranayama (yogic breathing). Breathing is something we do every minute of the day and hardly give a moment’s thought to, but focusing on your breath and practicing deep breathing exercises can calm you down both physically and mentally.

This comprehensive comparison evaluates bioavailability, GABA modulation, HPA-axis impact, and provides evidence-based dosing charts for both supplements. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to feel relief and prevent hangxiety in the future. If you have ever experienced hangxiety, you know that it does not feel good.