instant

I used to think alcohol was good for relieving stress at the end of a long week, rough day or difficult period. The results seemed be be pretty quick and my thoughts could get away from all the B*****t.

For the first six months of sobriety I was jumpy and over reactive and still prone to 'outbursts' but since then I can stay calm in the midst of a storm. Things still bother me but I tend not to dwell as much and I don't get as wound up physically. I am now more able to be appropriately assertive rather then my previously more explosive approach.

Overall I handle stress better now. Whats been your experience?

sugarbear1

Did alcohol relieve my stress? I believe alcohol created my stress.

It's like saying I drank so I could sleep better when alcohol actually interrupts proper sleep rythyms and cycles.

Yeah, I was deluded in my thinking!

hypochondriac

Alcohol was great at relieving stress, nothing worked faster...but it only lasted for the first 2 or 3 beers then I'd get depressed that I was drinking again and couldn't stop...and then the panic attacks the next day certainly didn't help with my stress levels.

Barring the first 2 weeks where I was tired and irritable and angry as hell, I have never felt calmer I don't have such extreme highs and lows any more and other people don't wind me up so much. I still have a way to go before I'm completely at peace but I am definitely more stable without the booze.

JustARide

For me it did relieve stress and anxiety...except that waking up the next day the anxiety and stress were even worse and I couldn't wait till evening to relieve the stress and anxiety again. Vicious cycle.

Bruno1979

Alcohol has in the past seriously relieved the stress from my job but only short term,

The next day when I woke up the stress and problems seemed to be magnified x10.

Bruno

ACT10Npack

Studies shows that alcohol does relieves stress but when you use it for every little thing that does not go right then that's a sign that your becoming addicted to the alcohol.

stairs

Same here, alcohol created a lot more stress than it ever alleviated.
Panic attacks, impatience, omg I used to feel like I was going to jump out of my skin sitting in traffic on the way to buy alcohol....the sun too bright, the noises too loud, not wearing socks, blech.

I don't miss that at all. I am pretty calm now and physically feel fricken great compared to that.

MentalLoop

not sure if you were being sarcastic with "studies show". But if serious, I'd like to see those studies. Alcohol, like ibuprofen or acetaminophen is an analgesic, only much much stronger. As such, alcohol doesn't relieve stress, it hides stress - or numbs it. But this explains why we all woke (wake) up in a terror after a night of drinking. Because everything that was stressing us would freeze in time, we would pass out, then wake up XX hours later with a loss of time and only having not addressed that which was stressing us for that much longer.

Said another way, it's like not filing your taxes and it is April 16th at 8am. You have loads of stress. You drink 8 pints at noon, the stress is gone (numbed). You pass out. You wake up at 11PM and realize that instead of 16 hours to do your taxes, you now have 1 hour, and you lost 15 hours which only compounds the problem (e.g. stress).

Dee74

It didn't 'work' at all the last few years...but I used to think it did before that...

now I see obliterating myself like I did kinda removed *everything*...and then when I woke up the next day I not only had the original stressor but a whole range of new ones too....which meant I 'needed' to drink again...

madness.
D

least

I thought it did... but it only made it worse.

reggiewayne

There was a time, probably in my late 20's when (ocassionally) I was able to come home after a long week and have a few "whiskey on the rocks" and a few beers and genuinely get some peace. But I never knew when that time was coming or when the binge was coming. The feeling of having that first drink was the same, but the outcome was much different. There were also nights when I'd start drinking and instead of going to bed at a reasonable time, I'd go out and drink till very late.

Very very unpredictable...

Anna

Yes, alcohol relieved my stress and allowed me to sleep for about three weeks. I had turned to alcohol to self-medicate chronic insomnia. And, then, I was unbelievably hooked and didn't look back for almost three horrible years. Huge mistake.

Tuitiefruitie

I always thought it calmed me down when I started drinking, but I would become so impatient and get irritated so easily. Now, I stay fairly calm. I think it's because my brain can actually process what is happening and I am able to think of a solution instead of just reacting.

waw545

I like drinking alcohol for problems something did not go my way I got drunk about it and the stress would leave I drank hard for 17 yrs before I went to treatment and I learned how to not drink my problems away they only got worse. My counselor would say doing the same old things expecting different results and that stuck in my head he was right so I started doing things different been sober for a while now. Blessings to all.

Zencat

I can escape any type of stress when boozed-up to the gills. But when the lush rush was over, the stress remained the same because nothing changed.

Now sober I can change for the better and the stress...I can lessen its effects on me. Mostly by doing the right thing.

loudog430

I never had stress as a youngster, then I started drinking, and now I am stressed out.

Not really cut and dry like that....but I think most of start drinking at a younger age when the stress is different and not as surmountable. We grow up, and look, we don't know how to handle bills, loved ones, jobs, money management. We grew up in a slightly distorted world where "partying it up" because you deserved it by "making it through a work week," was all that mattered. Wasted money, time, and bountiful headaches, explanations, and lost of trust and friends is what amounted.

michelle01

I thought it did in the beginning, it started giving me severe anxiety attacks after awhile and created more stress in my life, which I wasn't equipped to deal with.

Jeni26

Totally agree with what's been said. I deluded myself into thinking I drank to help with stress, but it magnified problems 100% and the resulting anxiety when hungover gave me a whole load of new issues to deal with.
Stress is part of life. I'm learning how to deal with it sober. And it's actually easier!!
I've just got to remember that!

Spinach

All my problems just vanished after a pint or two (probably one) and remained out of mind for the length of the day. Unfortunately I would carry on until I went to bed.
So the next day would be another hung over under functioning mess. Then start again.
So if I could have stopped after one I might have been able to reduce the causes of stress
Money work relationships housing etc but I never did.
Oh and anger bitterness depression.
So it would not I think pass therapeutic trials due to exaggerated side effects and short term efficiency.
John.
All addictive substances will relieve the stress of addiction by use.

kellyrally

I agree with others that have posted so far. I have always been quite bad "worrier" and I have always used alcohol to mask or numb stressful situations. My alcohol consumptions has always picked up when in bad situations that mentally stress me out. Stressful situations are certainly a trigger. Yet, consuming alcohol creates physical stress on my body in terms of building and solidifying my anxiety about life.