Overindulging in a few too many alcoholic tipples can leave you with a feeling of dread the next day.
‘Hangxiety’, ‘the fear’ or even the ‘beer blues’, are a few commonly used terms to describe the horrors of overwhelming anxiety after drinking too much booze.
While there aren’t any alcoholic beverages that actually benefit our mental health, there are some drinks that experts say are more likely to give you anxiety than others.
Popping a open a bottle of bubbly may be the go to for toasting milestones and celebrations, but prosecco and champagne can be anxiety-inducing.
Professor David Nutt, a neuropsychopharmacologist (specialist in drugs that affect the brain) at Imperial College University, explained its downfall lies with the bubbles.
Because it is carbonated the alcohol is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream, making us experience feelings of intoxication far quicker than other types of booze.
Professor Nutt told The Telegraph that once you feel drunk, the brain enters into an anxiety-inducing process of what’s known as ‘neuroadaptation’, which is designed to keep us awake and alert, and prevent the booze from sending us to sleep.
The higher the alcohol percentage the steeper the effects of anxiety seem to be, experts say
However, the neuroadaptation that tells us to stay awake outlasts the effects of the alcohol.
So even when the alcohol has left your body, for about six hours your brain is still telling you to remain alert, causing you to wake up in the early hours of the morning with a racing heart, feeling anxious.
Professor Nutt explains that the quicker you feel drunk, the more intense the withdrawal can be felt — which is why he notes prosecco as one of the worst anxiety causing drinks.
Cocktails are loaded with sugary syrups and juices as well as a mix of several types of booze. But their sweet taste makes it easier to drink.
This sugary combination could also make your mental health worse as it can also cause blood sugar to rise and fall over the course of a night, leading to extreme bursts of energy and drops, warns Lisa Gunn, Mental Health Prevention Lead at Nuffield Health.
It’s this drop in blood sugar that can increase the risk of feeling anxious and irritable, cause heart palpitations and make you feel tired and weak, according to the NHS.
Dark-coloured spirits, such as whisky, can also be bad news for anxious people.
This type of booze is made in wooden barrels, which give it more flavour. But it’s this added flavour that makes it more ‘complex’ and contain different types of alcohol.
Professor Nutt said: ‘Complex alcohols, which are more powerful than ordinary alcohol, cause more adaptation in the brain, making you more intoxicated even by drinking smaller amounts, leading to greater hangovers and increased anxiety.’
Even clear alcohol like vodka still contains different types of alcohol, although less than whisky, and will lead to jitters if too much is consumed.
Cocktails are loaded with sugary syrups and juices as well as a mix of several types of booze. But their sweet taste makes it easier to drink
Vodka is also stronger than other alcoholic drinks such as wine, meaning you will get drunk quicker. And if it’s mixed with something fizzy like tonic, it will also be absorbed faster — both of which can lead to anxiety.
Wine on the other hand does have a calming effect. It temporarily boosts our mood by increasing serotonin and dopamine and other neurotransmitters in the brain, but once these mood boosting chemicals drop after drinking so will your mood leaving you feeling anxious, Professor Nutt explains.
The lower alcohol content of beer and larger means they are low risk for your mental health the next morning — providing you drink one pint.
That’s because the lower alcohol content causes fewer withdrawal symptoms and makes us less dehydrated than drinking spirits.
Alcohol can initially make you feel calm because it triggers the release of GABA, a chemical in the brain that usually has a relaxing effect.
This means it reduces anxiety and also inhibits the excitatory hormone called glutamate, further promoting relaxation.
However, these effects wear off relatively quickly and after a few hours the brain experiences the opposite effect: a dramatic drop in GABA and a surge in anxiety-inducing glutamate.
Rob Hobson Registered Nutritionist and author of unprocessed your life told MailOnline: ‘As alcohol wears off during a hangover, GABA activity decreases, and glutamate activity bounces back, leading to increased excitability and anxiety.
‘Alcohol also temporarily boosts mood by increasing serotonin and dopamine, but their levels drop after drinking which may contribute to “hangxiety”’.
Dehydration could also contribute to anxiety. Mr Hobson explains because alcohol is a diuretic, people may experience dizziness and tiredness from being dehydrated, which contributes to feelings of uneasiness and panic.
