Can Drinking Cause Panic Attacks?

What you’re trying to do is reduce the impact of what happens to your brain when you’re dealing with stress. These activities lessen what is alcoholism the impact of stress and anxiety, and when you can weaken the effects of stress, you give your mind a better chance of regaining its own natural coping strength. Quitting drinking is always a difficult task, even if you were more of a casual drinker than an alcoholic. This can even affect those that never intentionally used alcohol to cope with stress. Our alcohol detox program provides round-the-clock clinical supervision to safely manage withdrawal symptoms while addressing the heightened anxiety that often accompanies cessation.

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Medical Risk Factors

Both acute intoxication and cessation of prolonged drinking may lead to increased anxiety and panic episodes in susceptible individuals. Alcohol induced panic attacks occur after consuming alcohol, and can happen while drinking or shortly thereafter. “When a person stops drinking, they can experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms, which can include increased anxiety and panic attacks,” Oeswein says. For individuals with a history of anxiety and/or benzodiazepine dependence, managing psychiatric medications during alcohol detox is crucial. Benzodiazepines, often prescribed for anxiety disorders, are themselves addictive and can complicate the detox process. Abruptly discontinuing benzodiazepines can lead to severe withdrawal symptoms, including panic attacks, seizures, and even death.

Finding Support: Therapy and Support Groups

• It is life’s most essential rhythm, happening without thought from the moment we are born.
• What you’re trying to do is reduce the impact of what happens to your brain when you’re dealing with stress.
• Panic attacks during a hangover can look like a sudden bout of intense worry, a sense of detachment from the world around us, and physical sensations like trouble breathing or chest tightness.

Unfortunately, as the alcohol levels wear off, there is a decrease in the inhibiting effects of the neurotransmitters, and the brain interprets the shift as threatening. As the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) lowers, the fight or flight response is activated, triggering a panic attack. Alcohol-induced panic attacks can compel people to binge drink to cope with the intense symptoms. However, the more you drink, the more you perpetuate the  cycle of alcohol-induced anxiety. If you are experiencing an alcohol-related panic attack, stop drinking immediately.

Getting Help For Anxiety And Alcohol Use Disorder

• It is important to distinguish panic attacks from other serious health problems.
• This means they need to consume more alcohol to achieve the same calming effect.
• Lacey graduated from Brand University with a MA in Psychology, Marriage & Family Therapy.
• When someone abruptly stops or significantly reduces alcohol consumption after prolonged use, the body reacts to the absence of a substance it has grown accustomed to.

To counteract this, incorporate serotonin-boosting activities like exercise, sunlight exposure, and a diet rich in tryptophan (found in turkey, eggs, and nuts) alongside reducing alcohol intake. Upon quitting, your brain needs time to readjust, which can temporarily lead to heightened feelings of anxiety and even panic attacks. Alcohol dependence weakens your brain’s ability to regulate emotions effectively, and the absence of alcohol can experience as a period of increased tension. Caffeine can intensify anxiety, especially when combined with alcohol. Limiting caffeine intake, particularly before and after drinking alcohol, can help reduce anxiety symptoms.

• If panic episodes become frequent, intense, or interfere significantly with daily life, consulting a mental health expert is advisable.
• Over time, regular drinking can lead to mood swings, depression, and anxiety.
• Our dedicated team of trained addiction professionals and counselors provides individualized addiction treatment programs for recovery.
• That said, we don’t currently provide treatment for schizophrenia, primary eating disorder treatment, or Medication Assisted Treatment for substance use disorders.

However, you may want to cut back completely if alcohol is impacting your mental well-being through regular panic attacks. The physiological changes that alcohol triggers in your body can result in symptoms that are like a panic attack. When the body feels physical stress it also tends to feel mental stress because the physical symptoms are interpreted by the brain as stress and worry. Younger individuals, particularly those in their late teens and early twenties, may be more susceptible to alcohol-induced anxiety due to the developing brain’s response to substances.

In this article, we will discuss the connection between alcohol and panic attacks, why this loop happens, and how you can reduce the risk and get the best treatments possible in New Jersey. After you’ve spent time adjusting to your does alcohol cause anxiety lifestyle changes, assess your situation. If all goes well, you should see a significant improvement in both frequency and intensity. If not much has changed, look for consistencies in panic attack triggers so you can avoid them in the future. While small amounts of alcohol may activate GABA and cause you to relax, heavier drinking can sap GABA.