You had a great night out, but the next morning, anxiety hits: your heart races, and you replay every conversation from the night before in your head. This feeling, known as hangover anxiety or ‘hangxiety’, affects around 22 per cent of social drinkers. While for some people, it’s mild nerves, for others, it’s a wave of anxiety that feels impossible to ride out.
The ‘Sunday scaries’ may make you feel panicked, filled with dread and unable to relax. Hangover anxiety can make even simple tasks feel overwhelming. Here’s why it happens, and what you can do about it.
ALSO READ: What is hangxiety and how to ease it? Decoding anxiety symptoms after a night of drinking What does alcohol do to our brains? A hangover is the body’s way of recovering after drinking alcohol, bringing with it a range of symptoms. Dehydration and disrupted sleep play a large part in the pounding headaches and nausea many of us know too well after a big night out. But hangovers aren’t just physical – there’s a strong mental side too.
Alcohol is a nervous system depressant, meaning it alters how certain chemical messengers (or neurotransmitters) behave in the brain. Alcohol relaxes you by increasing gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the neurotransmitter that makes you feel calm and lowers inhibitions. It decreases glutamate and this also slows down your thoughts and helps ease you into a more relaxed state.
Together, this interaction affects your mood, emotions and alertness. This is why w.
