New and Scared
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Horicon, WI
Posts: 1
New and Scared
I just want to be a good mom/woman/wife/person without feeling like i need to fix my anxiety with alcohol or other things. Ive tired anti depressants, anti anxiety meds(which feel really good when i take with whiskey and beer) essential oils, a little bit of working out (not as much as I should, I'm sure) Alcohol(whiskey), has been the only thing that makes me feel normal. No worries, just relaxed. I don't want to be this way. I am 30 years old and have never been addicted to anything besides cigarettes and caffeine. What the hell is happening to me.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: East Coast USA
Posts: 120,855
Welcome to SR, hasby; you will find support, encouragement and understanding here. Glad you found us.
Many of us have turned to alcohol to self-medicate anxiety or depression only to discover that one tends to fuel the other and there we are - caught in the vicious cycle of addiction.
The good news is that the cycle can be broken; we can leave addiction behind us.
Many of us have turned to alcohol to self-medicate anxiety or depression only to discover that one tends to fuel the other and there we are - caught in the vicious cycle of addiction.
The good news is that the cycle can be broken; we can leave addiction behind us.
Community Greeter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 51,526
Welcome hasby.
I thought drinking was helping me cope too. I found out many years later that it just added to my anxiety. It wasn't relaxing me - it was numbing me - in a very unhealthy way. We need to live our lives with eyes wide open and clearheaded. Wish I'd realized that at 30! Congratulations on making this big change. We're so glad you joined us.
I thought drinking was helping me cope too. I found out many years later that it just added to my anxiety. It wasn't relaxing me - it was numbing me - in a very unhealthy way. We need to live our lives with eyes wide open and clearheaded. Wish I'd realized that at 30! Congratulations on making this big change. We're so glad you joined us.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Deep in the heart of Texas
Posts: 1,736
Originally Posted by Hevyn 
Welcome hasby.
I thought drinking was helping me cope too. I found out many years later that it just added to my anxiety. It wasn't relaxing me - it was numbing me - in a very unhealthy way. We need to live our lives with eyes wide open and clearheaded. Wish I'd realized that at 30! Congratulations on making this big change. We're so glad you joined us.
I thought drinking was helping me cope too. I found out many years later that it just added to my anxiety. It wasn't relaxing me - it was numbing me - in a very unhealthy way. We need to live our lives with eyes wide open and clearheaded. Wish I'd realized that at 30! Congratulations on making this big change. We're so glad you joined us.
Welcome!
Member
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: DFW area, Texas
Posts: 521
Welcome to SR! I'm also one that used alcohol to medicate my anxiety, but in the long-run it made things a lot worse by messing up my neurochemistry. Confronting what was the root cause of my anxiety (some long-term bad emotions and mental habits) helped things start to improve.
Hang in there!
Hang in there!
Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 369
The problem with using alcohol to treat anxiety is that at first it works. Eventually though you'll come to depend on it and then it will turn on you and make what was once a very simple treatable condition 100 times worse.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: UK (England)
Posts: 2,782
Welcome, i used to drink when i felt anxious and then i ended anxious all the time because i was drinking. Alcohol undermined my ability to cope with life, once i stopped drinking i learned new healthy ways to cope with stressful situations and i now rarely if ever get any anxiety at all. I think you will find that you will be in a much better position to cope and manage anxiety if you remove alcohol from your life. You will find so much support and encouragmet here to help you along the way. Glad you found us!
Member
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Washington, MO
Posts: 2,306
Yup, worked for me and then it didn't. Found it hard to quit and wanted something as quick and convenient as alcohol. There is no such thing. There are however life skills and practices that work well and shared by most of us here. Stick around, peruse and post. We all found the medicine eventually turned on us and are finding sustainable ways to live sober. You will too.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 9,029
Welcome to SR Hasby. I drank to cope with anxiety and depression too. I've found that for the most, my depression and anxiety were caused by the drinking and the seemingly never ending cycle of hangover, withdrawal, drinking more. Once I stopped, so did the anxiety. It isn't a hundred percent gone, but it's manageable.
I had to learn new skills to deal. I cut out almost all caffeine. Especially smoking, coffee and an empty stomach. It's a learning process and takes time but I feel more "normal" than I've ever felt. You can do it. Stick around here.
I had to learn new skills to deal. I cut out almost all caffeine. Especially smoking, coffee and an empty stomach. It's a learning process and takes time but I feel more "normal" than I've ever felt. You can do it. Stick around here.
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