hangxiety

0:00 Welcome back to the Women's Mental Health Podcast. I'm Randi. And I'm Jess. And we're two licensed psychotherapists. This is a safe space where we talk about mental health, well being, and strategies for coping with life's challenges. And how all of this is normal. And you are not alone. We're in this together. Absolutely. So today's podcast, we're going to explore hangxiety. Yes, you've heard that before, I'm sure. But anxiety, it's impact on women's mental health, and we're going to look at some, insights and strategies for coping and how to avoid some of this anxiety. Right. Although this is not a formal diagnosis, it's something that is not really new, but like the term is new.

0:41 But it has been trending a lot on social media and TikTok and things like that. So we thought we would dive into it and give you guys a better understanding about it. And so we're going to talk about adopting mindful drinking practices, engaging in self care, seeking support, to effectively manage anxiety and really prioritizing your mental well being. And you can find us and more resources on womensmentalhealthpodcast. com. Okay, have you ever had these thoughts? What is anxiety? How long does anxiety typically last? Can anxiety be prevented? Is anxiety a sign of a larger mental health problem?

1:23 Can anxiety be treated? Mmm, what are some effective strategies for dealing with anxiety in the moment? Will avoiding alcohol completely eradicate anxiety? Can anxiety be passed down through genetics? Ooh, that's a good one. How is anxiety different from a regular hangover? Right, just a regular old hangover. Okay, so let's really first break down what is anxiety. Okay, so, I know, at first I was like, what? What is happening? At first I thought it was like having anxiety about hanging with friends. See, I thought it was an after effect of your anxiety, like an anxiety hangover. Yeah, so, really, That's why it's important for us to talk about it, because we didn't know what it was either.

2:08 Anxiety is a term used to describe the feelings of anxiety and an ease that often accompany a hangover. Oh. So it's like a hangover, anxiety because of your hangover that you're having, after you've been drinking. Interesting. So it's kind of like the walk of shame. Yeah. Kind of like buyer's remorse. Like you're like, Oh God, I shouldn't have done that. What did I do? this is horrible. Or you feel just anxious or your body feels like off. So it's really important to understand this so you can. Navigate social situations with alcohol, or even if you're at home drinking, or, and really bring this into part of your self care routine if you are going to drink.

2:52 let's talk, a normal hangover is, headache, nausea, fatigue, but many women, will get the anxiety piece of it is really having the anxiety. Of the drinking because alcohol increases anxiety. Yeah, so not only are you Hang hang. I can't even say that word anymore anxiety Not only you're having anxiety because you have a hangover and the what the did I do last night? Yeah Yeah. But the drinking is increasing anxiety, right? So it exacerbates if you already have symptoms like generalized anxiety disorder or social anxiety disorder, panic disorder.

3:33 It can make these things worse. Absolutely. Oh, it makes everything worse. Yeah. Be real, especially if in large amounts or on daily, like a daily thing. If it's something that your body's like, I have to have that. Yeah. So when you're combining the physical. symptoms and discomfort of having a hangover with the heightened anxiety. And then it leads you to fall into this dark hole of feeling guilt, shame, regret, especially if you did, drink excessively. And especially if you're like a younger woman too, and I didn't drink until I was like, in college, but then I was like, Oh my gosh, what am I doing? Why am I acting, out this way?

4:13 And Oh, I shouldn't have acted that way, like blah, blah, blah. So it really can impact everything overall. also, it's not just drinking that this can happen with. This happens also with people with eating disorders too. Think about binge eating. They binge eat. Oh God, why did I do that? Or vomiting. I'm gonna gain weight. I shouldn't have eaten that. It's, it happens when, it almost feels like when we're out of control. And that's what happens when people drink. They get a little out of control sometimes. Yeah. Hmm. So let's define hanganxiety. What exactly is it? It is a term used to describe feelings of anxiety and ease, that come with a hangover.

4:57 I don't know if it's the necessarily, The leftover from last night, if it's, it just feels a, we feel off kilter. It's like an ick. And yeah, it's like an ick. It's like a, I don't know. It's like a WTF, what did I just do? Well, cause you think about it, right? Anxiety impacts your sleep. Your mood. Yeah. Your overall well being. I mean, you're just like, Oh God, why does it take you two days sometimes you're like, I'm never drinking again. Yeah, like the older I get, the less I have enjoyed drinking because well to as like a parent and a caregiver, like I have to get up in the morning and I have all these responsibilities. And I'm like, I can't do that when I feel this way.

5:37 And it's just. It's not worth like the consequences afterwards, I've come to realize, but you can still, you can manage, you can learn to manage, your drinking with some of these things. So what causes hangxiety then? So it's con It's thought to be influenced by the way alcohol really affects our brain chemistry. So as alcohol is metabolized in our system, it can disrupt our neurotransmitters, which are like our beep, beep, beep before in the brain, leading to you having this rebound effect of anxiety. Once the effects of the alcohol start wearing off, like everything comes to the surface.

6:17 Hmm. a lot of people get really anxious and when they're anxious and they're drinking, my first thing is I need you to maybe slow down or take a step back because it's affecting you or if you're getting poor sleep quality. So yeah, it feels great at the moment, which is why most people will have a drink. Yeah. You know, like Xanax. and alcohol, they affect the same receptor, right? And Xanax is used for anxiety attacks. But yeah, so a lot of people use it as a coping mechanism if especially if they don't have access to medication. Oh, and they're not giving out Xanax anymore because it's so hard. How long does anxiety typically last?

6:58 I think it varies from person to person. Just like a regular hangover, Often it's only for a few hours, maybe the entire day, depending upon how bad everything was. And I think it depends too, if you already have a panic disorder, anxiety disorder. Or things like that affecting you, if it's going to compound it, tenfold or not. Exactly. how can we prevent anxiety then? like anything, there's no foolproof way to really prevent it altogether. unless you abstain from alcohol. But you can take steps to minimize its impact. So, really moderating your alcohol consumption. Figuring out, is one glass too much? Enough is two glass, like what can I handle?

7:40 Staying hydrated while you drink and even when you get home, like drinking when you get home, drink your eight ounces of water and eating nutritious food too, to help balance your metabolism and how you're metabolizing like the alcohol as well. That can Help prevent some of the symptoms if you are taking care of yourself, really, it comes down to self care. Are you caring for yourself, physically, mentally, emotionally and checking off all those boxes? we talked about back in, uh, was it? December right around the holidays, how to drink and the around the holidays when there's a lot more pressure to drink and parties and things like that. Yeah. And so what you were just talking about, like staying hydrated is maybe instead of having another drink, you have a mocktail, right?

8:26 you switch it up. You have a drink, you have a mocktail, we talked about those tips to when you feel socially pressured to drink. A lot of times I will just hold a glass of something in my hand because then people don't. Ask me like, why aren't you drinking? Why aren't you drinking? Like, why aren't you, you know, and I'm like, what do you care? Like relax, but yeah, so it's just they want it. They want you to drink. So it makes them feel bad, right? So avoiding kind of those social pitfall pitfalls Just is anxiety a sign of a larger mental health problem? if you have it occasionally, I don't know if that's going to be like a larger problem. If you're having anxiety more often, though, I think, yeah.

9:08 I think that you either need to look at your drinking, you need to, look at managing your anxiety better. Mm hmm. maybe look at what is going on in your life that is causing this. I can't give a diagnosis right now. I don't want to be like, you need to go to AA, you need to do that. Well, that's why it's important to talk to a therapist or talk to a doctor or talk to a friend even, so you can get more clarity and support on the topic. Okay. So then let's go into the next one then is how can it be treated, Randi? So it really involves, like we were talking about, addressing the symptoms that you're having, anxiety symptoms, and finding healthy coping mechanisms for the stress.

9:50 And we have lots of articles, too, on our website about how to deal with stress management. And coping. Yeah, and coping, and using techniques like mindfulness. regularly exercising, engaging in things that you love, that you enjoy, that make you happy, seeking support, from your family, from your friends, from your coworkers, any, a lot of that, especially having a strong support system can help. alleviate having this anxiety? And so what are some other effective strategies for dealing with anxiety? Like when you're in the thick of it, right in the moment, you know, I, you know, me and my bubbles. I know, I know, I know.

10:30 We love the bubbles, blow bubbles. If you don't have them because you're like, I can't even find them right now. Just act like you're blowing bubbles because what we do not breathe enough. The other one, we don't. We did a whole thing about breathing. I called her out. She doesn't breathe. I do not breathe. Yeah. But it is sitting upright. putting your shoulders back and taking deep breaths, but remembering to also hold them. when you're having a panic attack, the triangle breathing is really good. Not just the box, but the triangle piece of it, because what the triangle does is you inhale through your nose to the count of three or four. You hold it to three or four and then you exhale through your mouth.

11:12 Just do it nice and slowly and like exhaust, make it a big sound, right? Because most of us, but neither one of us held our breath by the way. You can do that. do some stretching if you're sitting there and you're just like, okay, I can't do this. Just do some stretching. the other one I like is putting your feet up on the wall. So lay on your back. And this will help reset you a little bit, lay on your back, put your feet up against the wall, and just have your arms out and breathe. That's like grounding, taking off your shoes and going out and putting your feet in the grass and, feeling the ground underneath you. Also, something I've used with clients and stuff in the past too, is eating.

11:55 Or sucking on something that is very sour will help you snap out of if you're having like anxiety or panic. Something about the way the taste buds and your receptors and stuff will help you like calm down in the moment. I think it's like shocking yourself. Yeah, right. It is without shocking yourself. have people that take a cold shower, putting, some cold water on your face, right? There is something it is about distracting you and shocking you. I'll have to try the sour thing. So will avoiding alcohol completely eradicate anxiety though? if you abstain from alcohol, it will likely prevent anxiety, but it's not the only option. So many people can enjoy alcohol in, moderation without experiencing significant symptoms that anxiety can bring.

12:44 It's really understanding your limits. It's listening to your body, taking care of your body and finding that balance that works for you. Because like we said, if you have other panic or anxiety or depression going on underneath it, it's going to exacerbate it. So really you have to go to the source of that symptom and kind of deal with that. And do we know if anxiety can be passed down through genetics? They're finding that, genetics do influence how we react to alcohol and if we have anxiety or not. it isn't solely determined by genetics though, because your environment and there's psychological factors that come into play.

13:27 it varies from person to person, many people, like not being able to drink. I have one side of my family that they're allergic to it and they turn really red. My sister is adopted. She's Asian. And so I forgot the term, but a lot of people who are Asian will get like a flush like reaction. So my sister does not drink because it literally makes her feel like horrible. So it's just not something that's enjoyable for her. Which, I think that's great that she said, I don't like it. Right. It's not worth it. I mean, you can push through it. You know, if you want. A lot of people do. But, she's listening to her body. She's listening to herself. She's taking care of herself because of that.

14:07 A does not equal B. this does not make me feel good, so I'm just going to avoid it. And that's true. Totally fine. And you don't have to explain your reasoning to anybody either. You don't. I like the, if somebody says, are you? No, why not? I'm just not. That's all you have to tell people. I'm just not. I just don't want to. I don't know. Just don't. Yeah. No, thank you. No, thank you. Yeah. No is a complete sentence. Exactly. We say that all the time. Complete sentence. so how is anxiety diff sorry, anxiety different from regular hangover? We were talking about in the beginning, it Really, a hangover is the physical symptoms. So headache, vomiting, you're exhausted.

14:48 you just, your body doesn't feel good. Where anxiety specifically relates to feeling like unease, like anxiety, maybe like this rumination, thoughts, that are cycling through your head, all post alcohol consumption. And so they might coexist together or they might. present, individually, but both kind of give you an unwanted reminder of, why did I drink, so much. And it's not just, it's not just the, why did I drink so much, right? That's part of it, right? Yeah. That's the thoughts of it. But this is also Like a psychological, yeah, just physically, you're just, it increases your anxiety.

15:30 So it's not just, Oh God, what did I do last night? But it's also the, I have anxiety that I can't control. And I think when you feel panic too, in your body, like your heart rate. is going fast and your mind might be racing and like your body's clenched or maybe you're breathing like really rapidly and you can't control it. That does not help the mental side of how you're thinking about things either because you are just like, so like, Oh my gosh, what's happening in my body and like what caused this? And then it creates even more panic. It's that chicken or egg, which one came first? I don't know. Obviously the drinking. Increased the anxiety and the anxiety is there because your body is reacting to the drinking and the consumption of alcohol.

16:13 Right, and how your body metabolizes it. Really, it does. It comes down, like you said, to that physiological response you're having to the alcohol in your system. technically we're poisoning our bodies. I'm not anti drinking at all, I love a good cocktail, but, our body is gonna react to something that is a foreign substance in it? Hmm. Yeah. that's true. we were talking the other day about how, our generation doesn't smoke. We grew up with all of this anti smoking stuff, tobacco is bad, the tobacco companies are out to get you. Yeah. And so we rarely see people in our generation or below that smoke.

16:55 Now they vape. It's different. That's a different generation, but we don't see smoke. Our kids are being taught that drinking is harmful, and so most of them, millennials and below, don't drink. Yeah, my older adult daughter is like, ew, drinking. And I'm like, if I have a drink, she's like, what are you doing? Exactly. And I'm like, well, it's just one, like, you know, I'm not like, I hardly ever drink, but then even when I do, she's like, oh my gosh, mom. And I'm like. What? But yeah, I, I, I do, I understand that because like what my dad was a smoker and my grandma smoked like everybody and I have a horrible asthma because of it.

17:38 But I used to like leave like pamphlets like on my, on my parents bed for my dad, like black lung, like you're gonna, you know, you're gonna get lung cancer. You're gonna die. This is horrible. And my dad like thought I was ridiculous, you know, but for me, it was like, so, so Horrible. Exactly. Like, why would you do that? And that's how our kids are now and the younger generation is with drinking. And so it's a really interesting dynamic to see what's going to happen because if we have a drink, you're right. They flip out like, and I was like, what the hell? But it's very common for our age to have a drink or to, you know, have a glass of wine with dinner or whatever. The younger kids don't drink or smoke, but now they're, they're back to vaping, actually.

18:21 Not that mine's vaping, but like the younger kids. I mean, it's very common. Yeah. Yeah. They're vaping now. And we're like, Oh, that's still tobacco. And they're like smoker. Oh my gosh. It reminded me of that meme of that. What is that lady pointing at the cat screaming meme? You know that one? Oh, I don't know. There's. It's important, really, when it comes down to it, to practice self compassion and really avoid judging yourself about it if you are experiencing anxiety because, It is very common for this to happen. So you're not alone in this. And that's what we're talking about and what you can do to minimize these effects. If you are having, a lot of anxiety and panic after you have consumed alcohol.

19:05 Yeah. Talk to a professional, figure out how, to manage this. it's okay. Really. Truly to prioritize your mental well being and make choices for you that's going to support your health and happiness. And we hope that this episode has really shed some light on anxiety and offered you some strategies for coping and how it can affect you overall. You are not alone and really just prioritize yourself.