So many people suffer from anxiety in the modern world that it’s almost more surprising to hear when someone is not anxious about an upcoming event or relationship or conflict in their lives than to hear a long list of anxiety-related feelings. Although anxiety is a widespread condition, it’s not always crippling. Many people are able to manage fleeting instances of nerves or worries, or fears. But when anxiety starts to cross over into a more debilitating, ongoing state that interferes with your normal routine, turning to a soothing substance like alcohol is not uncommon. Anxiety and alcohol can become a hindering feedback loop that we will explore further below.
At True Life Center, we can help you or a loved one heal with our addiction treatment and generalized anxiety disorder treatment. Our team has decades of combined experience helping people regain control of their lives with anxiety treatment and alcohol treatment. We can do the same for you or a loved one.
How Anxiety Manifests
Because anxiety can cover a broad range of disorders, such as:
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Panic Disorder
- Social anxiety disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
However, symptoms will vary from person to person. Some of the most frequent ways it manifests, however, include:
- Racing heart rate
- Distraction or difficulty concentrating
- Memory recall issues
- Sleepless nights
- Muscle tension
- Jaw clenching
- Nausea, upset stomach
- Fatigue
You may feel edgy and unusually abrasive or find yourself worrying and looping over the same sources of distress without being able to find your way out. This fixation can feel overwhelming, and without the right help or guidance, it may lead you to seek other ways to cope. That’s where anxiety and alcohol come into play together, and initially, alcohol is extremely effective at reducing anxiety symptoms.
Why People Turn to Alcohol
Knowing what a potent physical and mental toll anxiety can take on anyone, it makes sense that someone suffering from frequent bouts of anxiety would turn to something that represents a soothing balm or distraction from the vicious circle of restless thought patterns. Anxiety and alcohol share a long history of use as a means to overcome that leads to abuse. It’s all too easy for one drink to take the edge off to lead to more drinks. If you can’t find any other outlet or means of dealing with anxiety symptoms, you may find yourself turning again and again to the liquid anesthetic. The more frequently you use it to calm your anxious physical and emotional symptoms, the more you risk teaching your body to depend on the substance, which leads to a greater need for it to achieve the same results.
Why Anxiety and Alcohol Don’t Mix Well
Feeding your body a cocktail when it actually needs skills to actually reduce the root cause of anxiety can only lead to an exacerbation of the symptoms you’re trying to escape. Although alcohol effectively brings initial relief from panic, insomnia, and anxiety, over time, alcohol can become one of the problems as it will worsen the very symptoms that it initially reduced. One of the best things you can do for your anxiety is finding the root cause of what is igniting it by seeking treatment before another difficult condition such as alcohol use disorder begins to manifest.
True Life Center’s Programs and Therapy Options
At True Life Center’s mental health IOP and PHP, we treat all of the above conditions with our unique neurobiological integration. Neurobiological integration is an integrated and collaborative approach that aims to identify the root cause of illness and gets results by using the synergistic combination of:
- Individual psychotherapy with DBT, CBT, and/or psychodynamic approach
- Specialized psychiatric treatment
- Acupuncture
- Mindfulness and self-compassion practices
- Family therapy
- Co-occurring substance use treatment
- Anti-craving medication
Finding Support for Anxiety and Addiction at True Life Center
True Life Center prides itself on helping you help yourself. After spending time with you and understanding the very real struggle you’re enduring, we will customize a dual diagnosis treatment plan using our integrative model that incorporates your dreams and your goals into the path we will build towards wellness and recovery.
Although anxiety and addiction may be challenging obstacles, recovery is possible when people decide to reach out for help. If you struggle with anxiety and addiction, True Life Center’s team of therapists and addiction specialists can become part of your team. However, the first step in this recovery journey is up to you. Contact True Life Center in San Diego by calling 858.202.1822 or completing our convenient online form to start your journey to healing today.
