Can Stopping Alcohol Increase Anxiety And Symptoms?

Video Transcript

Can Stopping Alcohol Increase Anxiety And Symptoms?

First, anxiety is caused by anxious behavior. So no, stopping alcohol won’t cause anxious behavior.

However, stopping alcohol stresses the body, and stress can increase activity in the brain’s fear center (the amygdala and other parts), which can cause an increase in feelings of doom and gloom.

If you are an anxious person, that increase could cause an increase in anxious behavior, increasing anxiety.

So, if you are an anxious person, stopping alcohol could increase your tendency to be anxious.

Second, as mentioned, stopping alcohol stresses the body. A body under stress can exhibit symptoms of stress. So, yes, stopping alcohol can increase anxiety symptoms since anxiety symptoms are symptoms of stress.

If you are anxious and your anxious behavior increases because of stopping alcohol, that increased anxiety can also increase anxiety symptoms. In this regard, you can experience an increase in anxiety symptoms from both an increase in anxious behavior and increase in stress from stopping alcohol.

So overall, yes, you can experience an increase in anxiety and symptoms if you are an anxious person due to stopping alcohol.

Nevertheless, as your body adjusts away from consuming alcohol and stabilizes, and as you contain your anxious behavior, you should see these increases subside in time.

If you have difficulty containing your anxiousness, you might want to connect with one of our recommended anxiety disorder therapists to help you learn the important skill of containment.