Here's why you experience hangover anxiety after drinking.
Alcohol actually has effects on multiple neurological pathways. But when it comes to hangxiety, perhaps the most significant one is the gamma aminobutyric acid, or GABA, pathway. Alcohol increasesactivity in the brain. GABA is involved in several brain functions—motor control, memory, anxiety—and it’s also the principal inhibitory neurotransmitter, says David Kareken, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist at Indiana University Health.
Alcohol is “basically primarily a sedative,” Dr. Bogenschutz tells SELF. He explains that alcohol activates the brain’s inhibitory system as it simultaneously attenuates the brain’s primary stimulatory system . What you get when the brain’s inhibitory system is working overtime and the stimulatory system is slowed down, is that delightfully relaxed feeling that sets in after a couple of drinks.
Alcohol’s effect on the GABA system is “one reason why alcohol intoxication can be perceived as relaxing,” says Dr. Kareken. The problem is that once you stop drinking, that influx of GABA goes away, taking with it the feelings of calm and relaxation. Particularly if you’re someone who relies on alcohol’s calming effects to feel OK, the absence of that calm can be anxiety provoking.Of course, just about anyone can feel anxious after a night of drinking.
Hangxiety is more prevalent for people who are prone to anxiety, especially those who use alcohol as a social lubricant to quell their nerves. Now look, having a drink when you’re feeling a little wound up or tense is a time-honored way to chill out, but the thing is that the relaxation you get from that delicious cocktail is actually pretty temporary, particularly for people who are already anxious in general.
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