A hangover is always difficult, as many people who have been drunk to the point of fainting at least once in their lives will confirm this. The next morning, the hangover syndrome manifests itself in all its colors. Severe persistent headache, nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeat, weakness, trembling in the body - all the unpleasant symptoms can be listed ad infinitum. But everyone's hangover is different.
Often during a hangover, a feeling of fear and anxiety appears. This is usually observed in experienced alcoholics who periodically go on binges. The psychological state is greatly disturbed, which leads to severe anxiety. But it’s worth figuring out why these symptoms occur during a hangover?
Depression
The causes of a depressive state are called psychological factors (a reaction to events that have occurred in the patient’s life) and physiological (a symptom of a disease, a side effect of drug treatment). Endogenous depression without a clearly defined etiology is distinguished.
As a result of the impact of the pathological condition on the patient’s psyche, a person loses interest in his favorite activity and in his own life. In a state of depression, connections with the outside world and society are lost. The patient becomes fixated on his own problems, which plunge him deeper into a serious condition. Apathy begins.
As a disease, depression was described by Hippocrates in ancient times. However, it has gained maximum popularity over the past decades. Psychologists associate depression with the influence of the open world and social problems.
Alcohol in the modern world is used everywhere and often for corporate and personal meetings, on holidays and in moments of sadness. The combination of depression and alcohol addiction provokes a vicious circle. Alcoholic drinks are used as a remedy for depression, and alcohol at the moment of breakdown provokes the appearance of a depressive state.
Panic attacks with a hangover: what is it, how to deal with it, what to do
What to do if you are tormented by painful sensations that you really want to get rid of as soon as possible? There are several ways, depending on the reason that led to psycho-emotional discomfort. The most important reason is intoxication of the body and, as a result, a negative effect on the activity of the brain and nervous system of a person.
If you are tormented by attacks of melancholy, anxiety and fear, this indicates that you have significantly poisoned your body with an excessive dose of alcohol. This means that you need to get rid of a hangover, that is, detoxify the body. There are many ways to do this:
- drink plenty of fluids all day, at least 3 - 4 liters of pure or mineral water, green tea with honey, herbal infusions, chamomile or mint decoctions;
- drink vitamin C (preferably in effervescent tablets) or, if there are no problems with the gastrointestinal tract, eat a whole lemon;
- take any anti-hangover pill, but first make sure that you have no contraindications by reading the instructions;
- Take a shower at room temperature.
These simple measures will bring you back to life and alleviate your condition. As toxins leave your body, you will notice that your psychological state will stabilize. you just have to understand that your emotions and feelings at the moment are nothing more than the consequences of a chemical reaction that occurred in the body due to alcohol intoxication. You just need to be patient and get through this period of time. With the end of the hangover, this condition will pass.
The best recommendation that can be given in this case is to stop drinking alcohol completely (or at least drink in smaller doses). If you are predisposed to having such painful feelings after a hangover, then they may not only reappear, but also get worse.
Physiological causes of depression during hangover syndrome
With a hangover, the body is forced to fight serious intoxication. The liver, when processing alcohol, produces breakdown products that are much more toxic than ethanol.
As a result of exposure to toxins, dysfunction of most organs and tissues of the body occurs. Classic symptoms of alcohol poisoning:
- involuntary tremors of the limbs (damaged nerves);
- irregular blood pressure readings;
- weakness of the muscular system of the body;
- nausea and vomiting.
Other symptoms appear. Based on the symptoms, the body begins to experience stress, affecting the functionality of the nervous system. As a result of improper stimulation of nerve cells, a person feels causeless anxiety and becomes afraid.
When ethyl alcohol enters the body, the functioning of neurotransmitters (proteins responsible for the passage of nerve impulses) is disrupted. When the interactions of these proteins are dysfunctional, the mood worsens, the person becomes irritable and nervous.
Mood worsens as a result of a drop in the blood level of the hormones dopamine and serotonin, which are responsible for positive emotions in the mood. The process is associated with the ability of alcohol to first enhance the production of these hormones, then prevent their appearance at the decay stage. This results in the appearance of symptoms of apathy, constant anxiety, and depressed mood.
In the case of prolonged exposure to ethanol on the body (binge drinking), neurotransmitters become permanently dysfunctional, which increases the negative manifestations on the psyche to the point of deep depression and panic attacks with a hangover begin.
When a person suffering from alcoholism abruptly quits, a withdrawal syndrome or abstinence syndrome occurs. When the body gets used to regular exposure to ethyl alcohol, fear that is uncontrollable by the body will arise. In this case, medical assistance with the use of antidepressants is mandatory. Drinking alcohol together with antidepressants is strictly prohibited. This can lead to death.
Impact on the psyche
Alcohol is interesting because it is a strong antidepressant, but sooner or later it turns into a substance that provokes the emergence of many psychological problems, and not just delirium delirium.
The nature of the impact that is perceived in a positive way is quite clear. Alcohol blocks the action of dopamine antagonists and this neurotransmitter begins to increase its concentration in the blood. As a result, a person experiences a feeling of satisfaction, joy, and self-esteem increases.
If everything changes dramatically in the psyche of a drunken person, then this only means that a whole complex of responses of the body to drinking alcohol has been launched.
However, at a certain point, peculiar internal disagreements arise. One part of the consciousness strives for alcohol, while the other protests. It is primarily the person’s personality that strives, and the desire acquires a characteristic coloring in the emotional sphere.
At the same time, everyone subconsciously understands that alcohol is poison. The subconscious mind has the ability to send signals that can be expressed in dreams or experiences in the waking state. Alcohol is poison and the subconscious creates a response in the form of fear.
Therefore, panic attacks after alcohol should not cause any surprise.
Alcohol abuse can lead to panic attacks
What is fear? This is an emotional state that arises due to the appearance of danger. Any manifestations of fear have their own informational nature. Panic attacks and alcohol can have two types of connections.
The first function is blocking in the “before” state. Its role is played by panic attacks and phobias. For example, binge drinking can cause the alcoholic to experience something resembling agoraphobia. He tries to leave the house and go to the store where he planned to buy alcohol.
However, after just 100 meters of the journey, he experiences a peculiar horror. Many of the symptoms of a classic panic attack are present - dizziness, rapid heartbeat, weakness in the legs and similar signs. It seems that you are about to faint.
A person returns home in a panic and notices that he feels much better, and then almost all symptoms disappear. When he tries to repeat his exit, he makes sure that the attack is repeated. Although he already realized that these were tricks of the psyche - the somatic signs were so serious that he was again forced to return home.
Advice!
Despite a strong desire to purchase alcohol and the potential opportunity to do so, the alcoholic finds himself “under house arrest” for several days.
You might think that this is a completely positive function of a panic attack, but it actually develops into a kind of agoraphobia and every appearance on the street turns into a feat.
A hangover is a serious stressor for the body.
The second function is informative in the “after” state. In this case, panic attacks begin with a hangover. In general, what to do is quite clear - stop drinking.
True, at the same time it is also clear that alcoholism is too big a problem that humanity is solving with great difficulty.
You need to quit, but you shouldn’t rush to blame weakness on those who want to get rid of alcohol addiction, but have not yet succeeded.
Attacks, but not like that
At the same time, the body itself does not understand what is happening to it. He “feels” that dozens of hormones, neurotransmitters and other substances are not being produced as needed, but he does not have a specific program for self-purification, so the subconscious mind takes control and sends a signal to the mind.
Panic attacks due to a hangover have nothing in common with classic ones. In the usual version, this is panic for which there is no visible or explainable reason at all. At the same time, it has a number of somatic symptoms, so patients sometimes try for a long time to treat arrhythmia and hypertension, which they do not have.
In this case, the attack is provoked by the consequences of poisoning the body and the mental experiences of the alcoholic.
Have people who experience panic attacks after drinking try to remember whether they themselves wanted them? Creating these internal encodings or settings can only take a second. Of course, it’s unlikely that you would want to help yourself by simulating an attack.
It did not reach the point of paralysis of the limbs, but in terms of panic, horror, fear, which the drunkard rewards himself with, the solution to the problem is quite successful.
Many drinkers want to quit drinking, but it's not that easy.
An interesting feature of the psyche is that it can be easily forgotten. For example, a person drank too much and this put a strain on the cardiovascular system. The heart beat with incredible force, but withstood the test.
While drunk, the person was very frightened, but then he forgot what he was thinking about at that moment, how he solved the problem with the help of himself, what he was worried about. It is impossible to remember all the situations when alcohol made you feel physically ill.
Subsequently, for example, during a hypnosis session, you can be surprised to discover how many different surprises the alcoholic sent into his consciousness.
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No need to think about panic attacks due to a hangover. How to deal with alcoholism? This is a much more pressing question. In this regard, any psychological discomfort that can be used should be used.
Depression is an excellent background for realizing the need to stop drinking. It is only important to choose a form of treatment that excludes pride and self-indulgence. Orthodoxy views depression as a cry from the soul that a person has strayed too far from God. Her healing is prayer, confession, silence and direction of thinking towards God.
Let's imagine that an alcoholic prays to God or to the holy, pious elders. If his prayers contain words about deliverance from despondency, but without deliverance from drunkenness, then these cannot even be called sinful thoughts. It's as if God is an order table. Here he must clean up, fix here, and leave this defect, because it brings a lot of pleasure to the owner.
Just funny and naive...
Panic attacks after drinking alcohol are a great incentive to get rid of the vice. Surely the example discussed above with an alcoholic who is not allowed into the store to buy vodka seemed unrealistic to many.
Attention!
This happens rarely, of course. It’s a pity... However, the human psyche is capable of creating things that may seem like miracles.
We will have to use what we have, and this is fear after taking it or in a hangover.
Not out of nowhere
Hundreds of scientific articles have been written about the causes of alcohol addiction. The presence of different views does not deny that a Person drinks, because it seems to him that everyday life is too gray and does not provide bright experiences.
In this case, why try to ignore something from the palette of “gifts” of alcohol? There is no need to take these words figuratively - everything is quite concrete. This can be done through personal meditation. Its implementation will require constant contemplation of all feelings - before the reception, during and after it, including the next day.
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If it is carried out honestly, then you will certainly be able to notice factors that are counter to attraction.
A person drinks because it seems to him that everyday life is too gray and does not provide bright experiences
- Even before purchasing alcohol, thoughts will certainly come to your mind about what you shouldn’t do.
- The desire will outweigh, but something like this thought will definitely pop into my head: “I’m drinking today, and then I’ll abstain for 5 days.”
- At least once while drinking there will be a clear realization that all this is wrong and unnecessary.
- It will turn into the fact that at least once some kind of aggression will arise.
It is not at all necessary for a person to start fighting. Everything can be limited to ordinary irascibility. In fact, he's just angry with himself. - A hangover is scary anyway. At least because it will be noticeable to people that the person drank yesterday and did it on a grand scale.
Worth seeing: Which doctor should I see for panic attacks?
Panic attacks of the type we are discussing are their intensification. The body does not even need to try to invent phantom somatic symptoms.
After a heavy libation, who is in good health? In essence, these are our allies, whom we hastened to write down as opponents and want to get rid of the messengers of the subconscious, who do no harm. Alcohol makes you evil.
A professional doctor can help treat alcoholism and panic attacks
To what has been said, it only remains to add that almost all psychotherapists will look with surprise at people who ask to prescribe them some drugs against hangover panic attacks. They are not used during the attack itself, but over a long period. During treatment you need to drink the whole course. And it goes very poorly with alcohol. What can we say about the situation when alcohol provokes an attack?
Since alcohol has an extremely negative effect on the brain, it is not surprising that the nervous system is in a shaken state after drinking.
This manifests itself in irritability and depression. The feeling of fear and anxiety from a hangover also makes itself felt.
To successfully deal with hangover panic attacks, you need to understand what they are and what measures will help eliminate them.
A panic attack is a mental disorder that manifests itself in inexplicable, painful anxiety for the patient, which is accompanied by fear and corresponding sensations.
The main reason for this is increased sensitivity to the reactions of your body or hypochondria.
It manifests itself in the fact that a person is so attentive to what is happening in his body that he simply cannot help but notice the slightest changes.
This state can be briefly characterized as follows.
Every day, many processes occur in the human body, which are accompanied by such phenomena as subtle pain, changes in cardiac activity, temperature, breathing, etc.
Most people do not notice these natural phenomena. But people prone to panic and anxiety attacks pay attention to them. At the same time, they are often overcome by a feeling of anxiety, which threatens to develop into panic.
Psychological causes of depression
Not only physiological aspects, but also psychological characteristics of a person can provoke a depressive state. For example, a psychological factor, the presence of a feeling of guilt for actions committed while intoxicated. Guilt is a person’s moral attitude towards a committed act. If in a sober state it is not possible to carry out certain actions, then in a drunken state the boundaries of morality change greatly. A person considers himself entitled to take a number of actions that will challenge him and the people around him.
In addition to actions, feelings of guilt can be caused by accidentally uttering words that are offensive to the interlocutor, which a drunk person would never have uttered without the intervention of alcohol. When assessing the events that took place, a person may feel shame and may be tormented by remorse.
Anxiety and fear can be caused by memory loss due to the effect of ethyl alcohol on the activity of the part of the brain responsible for recording events occurring in a person in the conscious zone. Anxiety and fear can be generated by a person’s imagination and may not pose a clear threat.
Manifestation of symptoms
First of all, it’s worth understanding what a hangover is and why it occurs. This knowledge will further help you understand what are the causes of the psychological discomfort that accompanies the period after drinking.
A hangover is the body’s reaction to intoxication, that is, poisoning with the breakdown products of ethanol (namely, acetaldehyde). The hangover condition, or hangover syndrome, is accompanied by headache, nausea, vomiting, tremor, cold sweat, feeling of heat, pressure surges, rapid pulse, cardiac arrhythmia, tachycardia and other symptoms. All of them signal intoxication of the body at the physiological level.
However, there is also a psychological component to the hangover syndrome. It manifests itself in the fact that a person experiences fear, guilt, melancholy, anxiety, even depression and despair with a hangover. Depending on factors such as the state of the body, the stability of the nervous system, the environment, the amount of alcohol consumed the day before, etc., these symptoms may vary in severity in different people.
If you are suffering from such a severe psychological condition after a hangover, you must understand what it is connected with in order to successfully deal with it. There are usually several reasons for such psychological discomfort.
Treatment of depression caused by hangover syndrome
You need to start treating depression by eliminating the physiological causes of its occurrence - you will need to get rid of toxins and the poisoning caused by them. Dehydration can be eliminated by drinking plenty of clean mineralized water. It is possible to restore the salt balance by using brine as a medicine. The mentioned folk method has received scientific confirmation as one of the most effective for eliminating hangover symptoms.
To bring the brain and nervous system into an active state and eliminate swelling in the lower extremities, it is recommended to take a contrast shower. 3-5 cycles of changing cold and hot water. Staying under cold water should not exceed 10-15 seconds. The procedure should be performed in the absence of contraindications to its implementation. It is advisable to first consult a doctor about this. Only then the procedure will help and not harm the person.
Drink freshly brewed tea, filling your body with antioxidants (chemicals that prevent free radicals from spreading throughout the body). As a result, oxidative processes are reduced and the aging process is reduced.
By drinking tea with a slice of lemon, you can replenish your supply of vitamin C. To restore the level of this vitamin, you can use medications purchased at the pharmacy.
An effective method of recovering from a hangover is heavy food and sleep. After getting enough sleep, a person will feel a significant improvement in well-being in most cases. The exception is cases of severe intoxication, when elevated levels of alcohol in the blood persist for a day or more. The rate at which ethanol is eliminated from the body depends on a number of factors, such as:
- body weight;
- age;
- kidney condition;
- liver condition;
- amount of alcohol;
- ethanol level in the drink.
Based on these data, it is not difficult to accurately calculate the period of disintegration and elimination of alcohol from the body. It is advisable to be in a well-ventilated area when carrying out treatment. A significant dose of ethanol leaves the body when breathing. Therefore, walking in the fresh air will be useful. You can do light exercise.
If you have severe anxiety, it is advisable to use a sedative based on herbs. These include valerian and motherwort. The same herbs are included in herbal tea, which saturates the body with beneficial substances and vitamins of various groups necessary to normalize the activity of the brain and central nervous system.
A hobby or other activity that brings pleasure to someone who is being treated for a hangover will distract them from anxious thoughts.
It is recommended not to hide behind four walls from the whole world, but to participate in communication with other people. Try to surround yourself with positive people who enjoy every day. Communication with them will have a beneficial effect on the patient’s well-being and speed up the recovery process.
Anxiety
Anxiety and fears really spoil life, few people admit it, but many people have such problems. What’s also annoying is that you often don’t understand their nature.
That is, they exist, but there are no visible and logical reasons for them. In this material you can be sure to learn how anxiety and fear are associated with a hangover, as well as tips on how to deal with it - more on that below.
We immediately provide convenient thematic links:
- Why does the fear of death arise from a hangover? Here’s how to get rid of this terrible feeling quickly;
- How fear, anxiety and depression are related to alcoholic psychoses - read what is primary and the reasons for such a connection;
- What good pills help you recover from an anxious state after drinking alcohol - find out what kind of drug is good for helping with a severe hangover.
Every time people abuse alcoholic beverages, they subject their body to a difficult test. Moreover, not only health suffers from excessive alcohol consumption, but the mental sphere of a person receives no less harm.
Quite often, people complain that after drinking alcohol they experience anxiety and even fear. They often do not understand that the cause of these painful sensations is nothing more than ethanol intoxication.
You just need to learn more about the harmful effects of strong drinks on the body and its systems. This will finally allow us to realize that there is no safe dose and no harmless use. Let's look at how and why anxiety can develop. Other unpleasant sensations after heavy drinking of alcoholic beverages are also possible, and what can be done about it.
The main psychological discomfort that occurs during a hangover is the consequences of poisoning the body with ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Ethyl alcohol has a pronounced psychoactive effect. It may seem pleasant only at first when the drunk person is in a state of alcoholic euphoria.
But then, when its concentration in the blood increases, the effect becomes of a pronounced depressive nature. That is why the emergence of a depressed psychological state and all the accompanying sensations is only a matter of time. Of course, not everyone experiences feelings of fear and anxiety after drinking alcohol.
But for people who drink regularly, especially for those who don’t know how to stop at all, this is more than likely.
Psychologists identify several specific factors that greatly increase the risk of a hangover and/or its severity.
For some people, it is psychologically preferable not to solve a specific problem, but to protect itself from it. This type uses alcohol to try to get away from them, at least for a while. It’s even worse if they naively believe that drinking can really help solve the problem. But voluntary binge drinking does not make problems disappear.
There is often a strong desire to get away from the problem with the help of alcohol. But a person, having consumed a glass or two to relieve stress, most often loses control over himself.
He manages to achieve relaxation, the illusion that difficulties have faded into the background. But a pleasant emptiness in the head occurs only when he has filled himself up properly.
A person may even go on a real binge. True, this will certainly be followed by a “time of reckoning.”
We suggest you read: How to restore the body after prolonged drinking of alcohol
In such a situation, it became more difficult to resist life’s troubles, because both physical and mental strength became less. Drinking made him more vulnerable. The painful sensations intensify with renewed vigor. Now, where the day before, while still sober, the individual was slightly worried, in a state of hangover he really panics and is afraid.
If you don’t remember anything after drinking alcohol, i.e. The hangover revealed memory lapses. There are objective reasons why memory loss may occur from alcoholic beverages. Often events that occur during the period when a person was in a drunken state seem to be erased from his memory.
Naturally, as soon as a person understands this, he finds himself in a new stressful situation. He can't remember anything, so he feels anxious. Such anxiety and fear is explained by the very fact of amnesia. In addition, worries arise as to what if this is a reaction to unacceptable behavior or some bad deed committed while intoxicated.
Anxious sensations can occur until the unfortunate person himself figures everything out. He will try to restore the chronology of events on his own. But most likely, he will resort to the help of people who were next to him at that moment.
On the other hand, a person may not forget anything about his “drunken exploits.” Or eyewitnesses to the events will tell him about his drunken behavior. As a rule, when sober people experience remorse and so on.
Anxiety arises for those reasons for which they felt almost like heroes when they were drunk.
The more unusual and extremely incorrect the behavior of yesterday's hero was, the heavier the feelings that haunt him will be.
Important!
And fear... fear after drinking alcohol arises, for example, if he showed rudeness or dishonesty towards people significant to him (insulted his boss, was rude to his colleagues or exposed his relatives to ridicule).
It is typical that the more outstanding the “act of heroism” was, the stronger the fear will be. He will worry and be afraid of how everything that happened may affect his future. Naturally, a feeling of anxiety on the topic: how to correct the current situation will also haunt him.
Hangover syndrome, what could be worse? But if at the same time you are haunted by anxiety and fears, the situation only gets worse. What should you do when you are tormented by painful feelings that you want to get rid of as soon as possible? There are different ways to relieve anxiety.
The methods mainly depend on the reasons that caused the state of psycho-emotional discomfort. But after intoxication, the basic factor should be considered intoxication of the human body. Incorrect behavior must be viewed through the prism of its negative impact on the human higher nervous system.
When you are overcome by melancholy, fear and anxiety “from a hangover”, this is evidence of the fact that the day before your body was poisoned by a large dose of alcohol. Therefore, in order to reduce the severity of the situation, it is necessary to get rid of the hangover.
To do this, detoxify the body, that is, remove alcohol toxins from the blood. So what to do:
- Dilute the concentration of toxins in the body. To do this, you need to drink as much liquid as possible, at least 2–3 liters per day. Mineral still or boiled water is suitable. In addition, you can drink herbal infusions, green tea with honey, fruit drinks, and so on. But don’t even think about getting a hangover, no beer or anything else stronger;
- Replenish lost vitamins. You need to take vitamin C, as well as B vitamins (for example, take a capsule with thiamine, although an injection would be better);
- You can relieve other hangover symptoms by taking any special pill (for example, aspirin, alko-Seltzer, etc.). But we must not forget about possible contraindications; check the instructions for the drug;
- A contrast shower helps a lot, but moderation must be observed in choosing the temperature.
The following simple measures and manipulations can restore your vitality or at least improve your condition. As you continue to naturally remove toxins from your body, you will also find that your psychological state becomes more stable.
It would be correct to realize that feelings and emotions even in a hangover have a reason; they are a consequence of impaired brain activity. This happened as a consequence of alcohol intoxication developing in the body.
Here you need to be patient, you just have to survive this period of time. When the hangover ends, the feelings it caused will go away. Narcologists help even faster and especially in the presence of complex forms of toxicosis. Removal of alcohol intoxication by professional doctors is the right and safe choice.
· Nausea and vomiting.
· Tremor of the limbs.
· Diarrhea.
· Increased blood pressure.
· Arrhythmia.
· Headache.
Along with the above symptoms, a feeling of fear arises, which can develop into depression, panic attacks and hallucinations (delirium tremens).
The worsening of symptoms is due to the toxic effects of alcohol on the entire human body and in particular on the central nervous system.
1. The first thing you need to do is stop drinking alcohol.
2. Detoxify the body and cleanse the blood of ethanol breakdown products. Important! The use of sorbents in this case is an ineffective measure, since they will only cleanse the intestines. The patient will need a drip with antioxidants and hypatoprotectors, which improves liver function.
3. Restore water balance, saturate the body with oxygen and vitamins.
4. Get a good night's sleep. This is facilitated by taking sleeping pills and sedatives prescribed by the doctor.
As the body gets rid of toxins, the patient’s psycho-emotional and physical condition will improve. But in the case of subsequent consumption of alcoholic beverages, the symptoms will not only resume, but will also increase rapidly.
Preventive actions
The hangover should go away naturally within a few days. Along with a hangover, a person gets rid of hangover depression. If the state of depression or hangover continues for a longer period, this is a reason to consult a doctor for medical treatment of full-blown depression.
The best remedy for the recurrence of such negative reactions is a complete abstinence from drinking alcoholic beverages. If alcohol consumption is dictated by external events and problems in life, it is necessary to find ways to solve problems, and not ways to hide and forget about them for a few hours. The problem will remain, and a hangover will also be added.
Helpful information
1. What does a breakdown after coding lead to?
2. How to properly treat blood pressure from a hangover and can you do it yourself.
3. What does alcohol damage to the liver lead to, and what irreversible consequences occur in the organ.
4. What are the risks for an unborn child if a woman abuses alcohol during pregnancy, and is it possible to cure intrauterine alcoholism?
5. Why, against the background of alcohol abuse, a deficiency of vitamin B occurs and psychosis develops.
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