Root Cause
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 2,031
Root Cause
I have been suffering from anxiety since I was a child. My mother was my example and I worried about everything. As an adult, I thought it was normal to feel the panic and anxiety with every little thing that went wrong or I perceived was wrong.
Fast forward to my second marriage to an emotionally and verbally abusive dry drunk. Every day was like walking in a minefield. I began to have some problems at work and was not sleeping, so I'd have a drink, usually a shot or two of vodka or tequila. When the work situation became unbearable, I sought help. I remember being concerned about the drinking every night and told my therapist. He said, "So you found your drug of choice". I wanted help but felt he was giving me the OK to continue drinking.
To this day, anxiety is my trigger and I am thankful that my current physician is helping me,as is my therapist. I must learn how to deal with the feeling of impending doom, without resorting to alcohol.
I wrote this because I see so many people experiencing anxiety when they stop drinking and wonder if perhaps part of it is the root cause for drinking in the first place.
Thoughts?
Fast forward to my second marriage to an emotionally and verbally abusive dry drunk. Every day was like walking in a minefield. I began to have some problems at work and was not sleeping, so I'd have a drink, usually a shot or two of vodka or tequila. When the work situation became unbearable, I sought help. I remember being concerned about the drinking every night and told my therapist. He said, "So you found your drug of choice". I wanted help but felt he was giving me the OK to continue drinking.
To this day, anxiety is my trigger and I am thankful that my current physician is helping me,as is my therapist. I must learn how to deal with the feeling of impending doom, without resorting to alcohol.
I wrote this because I see so many people experiencing anxiety when they stop drinking and wonder if perhaps part of it is the root cause for drinking in the first place.
Thoughts?
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,442
It was one of the main factors for me starting to drink, for sure.
Unfortunately in the end drinking just made things worse.
My anxiety is the least it's ever been now thanks to recovery and really working at the problem, not avoiding it by drinking
D
Unfortunately in the end drinking just made things worse.
My anxiety is the least it's ever been now thanks to recovery and really working at the problem, not avoiding it by drinking
D
bona fido dog-lover
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SF Bay area, CA
Posts: 99,780
I drank to numb myself so I wouldn't feel the crushing depression and anxiety of my life. But alcohol makes anxiety worse. Once I got sober, my meds worked as they should and the depression and anxiety are a lot better.
You can have reasons, or you can have results, but you can't have both.
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Syracuse, NY
Posts: 1,232
Initially, anxiety was the cause for my drinking. Over time, drinking became the cause of my anxiety.
Booze definitely destabilizes our moods. Better off without it for sure.
Booze definitely destabilizes our moods. Better off without it for sure.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: London
Posts: 172
Fear and anxiety I would say defiantly helped with the alcohol problem. But in the you forget whether it's the drink coursing the anxiety or if the anxiety was always there, sort of like the chicken and the egg scenario....
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