How Self-Medicating With Alcohol Can Make Anxiety Worse

The iconoclastic English philosopher John Locke famously said, “What worries you, masters you.” Worry is one of the great bedevilments of humanity, and many people struggle to keep their worries in check. Many of these people may turn to self-medicating with alcohol to address these worries. Ultimately this will only make things worse and lead to great anxiety. The good news is there are many means, methods, and modalities to help one recover from both addiction and anxiety.

The Prevalence of Alcohol Use Disorder in the U.S.

Alcohol use and alcohol use disorder (AUD) remains highly prevalent in the U.S. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), “224.3 million people ages 12 and older (79.1% in this age group) reported that they drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime.1,2 This includes 111.1 million males ages 12 and older (80.1% in this age group),” and “113.2 million females ages 12 and older (78.1% in this age group).”

Of course, these are significantly high statistics. But, while it is easy to get discouraged, one should instead become motivated to do something about it. That is our primary purpose here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab. This is the goal of many other people who see their loved one suffering from AUD as well. Yet, many others are unaware that their loved ones have a problem, which is why being able to recognize the signs and symptoms is so important.

The Signs and Symptoms of Alcohol Use Disorder

While it is certainly not going to be the same for everyone, there are many signs and symptoms of AUD, and that someone is self-medicating with alcohol. The following are a few of those signs and symptoms:

• Isolating away from family and close friends
• Losing interest in activities and hobbies once enjoyed
• Regularly smelling like alcohol
• Expressing that they cannot stop drinking when they start
• Having trouble at work or school due to their drinking
• Excessive hangovers
• Feeling worthless, useless, and/or hopeless
• Having trouble with sleep cycles, including sleeping too much and not sleeping enough (insomnia)
• Loss of appetite
• Significant change in appearance and lack of hygiene
• Feeling overly anxious, stressed out, or nervous
• Self-medicating with alcohol to manage other issues like anxiety

This last symptom of self-medicating with alcohol can be like a double-edged sword. This is because it not only makes anxiety worse, but over time it can lead to AUD. This, and the other symptoms, are why seeking help as soon as some of these symptoms appear is paramount. Reaching out for help could mean the difference between short-term side effects and long-term consequences.

High Stress and Self-Medicating With Alcohol

Many people struggle with stress and anxiety. In fact, according to the peer-reviewed journal Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, “Anxiety disorders, including panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, specific phobias, and separation anxiety disorder, are the most prevalent mental disorders and are associated with immense health care costs and a high burden of disease. According to large population-based surveys, up to 33.7% of the population are affected by an anxiety disorder during their lifetime. Substantial underrecognition and undertreatment of these disorders have been demonstrated.”

This anxiety can be particularly highly concentrated in populations that have high-stress jobs/careers. This may be executives, CEOs, athletes, or individuals in the entertainment industry.

Of course, in the 21st century, anxiety is high because there is very little time for one to sit back, breathe, and reflect. Yes, this is because of high-stress jobs, but it is also due to the high amount of social media that is being used and the lack of green spaces (natural environments) that are available. This not only leads to anxiety but also leads to self-medicating with alcohol for that anxiety.

According to the peer-reviewed journal Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, “Few observations in psychiatry have been documented as long and as consistently as the association between anxiety (and general negative affect) and the chronic misuse of alcohol. Research has shown that up to 50% of individuals receiving treatment for problematic alcohol use also met diagnostic criteria for one or more anxiety disorders. This percentage can be compared with the prevalence of current (within the past 12 months) anxiety disorders in the U.S. community, which is estimated to be 11%.” Alcohol use can also lead to other issues of mental health.

Other Mental Illnesses and Self-Medicating With Alcohol

Many people don’t realize just how common AUD (and other addictions) and co-occurring issues of mental health are. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “7.7 million adults have co-occurring mental and substance use disorders… Of the 20.3 million adults with substance use disorders, 37.9% also had mental illnesses. Among the 42.1 million adults with mental illness, 18.2% also had substance use disorders.”

The reality is that self-medicating with alcohol only makes these mental illnesses worse. Self-medicating with alcohol also makes it difficult for professionals to dual diagnose comorbidities. This is because many mental illnesses and addictions share symptoms. Thus, the symptoms tend to overlap and/or overshadow one another. This is especially true with self-medicating with alcohol and anxiety.

How Self-Medicating With Alcohol Can Make Anxiety Worse

Many people don’t realize that alcohol is actually a depressant. There are many reasons for this. One is that people who drink “responsibly” tend not to act depressed, and two is that the alcohol industry spends billions of dollars in advertising to ensure that this fact remains less known.

Because alcohol is a depressant, it can also lead to high levels of anxiety. This is because anxiety and depression often go hand in hand. It is also true that self-medicating with alcohol also has a “snowball” effect when it comes to anxiety.

When one drinks excessively, they can become anxious over how much they are drinking. This causes them to drink more as alcohol has become their solution to dealing with their problems. This continues to build until more intense symptoms appear, such as physical ailments and trouble at home and work. Again, the “solution” is to drink more. This ultimately leads to intense amounts of even more anxiety and AUD. The good news is that there is a real solution to this problem, and that is reaching out to a recovery center for help.

How to Get a Loved One Help for Alcohol Use Disorder

Getting a loved one help for their AUD can be one of the most daunting experiences a person may ever have. They often fear that the individual will be resentful and potentially want to end their relationship. Yes, it is going to be hard, but the key is to remember that ultimately the goal is to save the person’s life.

One of the ways to temper the stress of getting a loved one’s help is to reach out to a professional interventionist. A professional interventionist is going to be able to help guide friends and family as they attempt to reach their loved one.

An interventionist can also help family and friends set crucial boundaries that are going to help the individual make the right choice and go to treatment. Setting these boundaries is going to be hard, but they are life-saving measures. These are boundaries like not letting an individual live at home if they are going to continue drinking, cutting them off financially, and not allowing them to see certain family members.

It is also important not to squander this opportunity to get a loved one’s help by reaching out to a subpar recovery center. The key is to reach out to a recovery center that focuses on healing at the cellular level. 

Healing at the Cellular Level From Alcohol Use Disorder

Here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab, we believe in healing at the cellular level. But what exactly does that mean? It means healing the entirety of one’s “Self” – the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. This is also what holistic healing is all about – healing all these components simultaneously because they are interconnected.

Healing at the cellular level also means getting past the surface level of the drink. Yes, it is important to put the drink and/or the drug down, but one must also get to the underlying issues that cause that individual to pick up that drink. It is important to remember, as is often said in 12-Step communities, “It is as much about the thinking as it is about the drinking.”

Getting to the Underlying Issues of Alcohol Use Disorder

Many people have underlying issues that they are not even aware of. These issues may be related to past trauma or other repressed memories.

These underlying issues are often the root/core cause of why one drinks. They are also often the root/core cause of why one feels anxious (the pre-existing anxiety prior to picking up the drink). 

It is important to address these root/core causes with many means, methods, and modalities. This is the critical multi-angled approach.

Addressing Self-Medicating With Alcohol With Various Means, Methods, and Modalities

It is important that a recovery plan be both individualized and comprehensive. This is the only way that an individual can truly heal at the cellular level. Unfortunately, this is not the case with many recovery centers around the world.

The reality is that the recovery realm is a billion-dollar industry. It is due to this fact that many recovery centers are in the business to make money rather than to save lives. These are often recovery centers that only offer broad “cookie cutter” style recovery plans that often fail to help on an individualized basis.

Here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab, we find that these types of facilities, and these types of plans rarely work. This is why we offer multiple modalities of recovery that pull from all areas of the treatment world. This includes experiential therapies like nature immersion therapy and surf therapy, holistic healing methods like yoga therapy and acupuncture, and psychotherapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).

Healing at the Cellular Level With Psychotherapies

There is a reason that psychotherapies are one of the few treatments for anxiety and AUD that are considered “evidence-based.” This is because many of them have been tested for over half a century and have shown real and promising results.

Two of these psychotherapies are particularly effective – CBT and DBT. They are so effective because they get at the previously mentioned underlying issues and start to show an individual how negatively they have been viewing themselves and the world around them. These therapies also make the individual an active participant in the treatment. This gives them critical autonomy to heal. A similar experience can happen with experiential therapy.

Healing at the Cellular Level With Experiential Therapies

There are many effective experiential therapies out there. They include nature-based therapies like nature immersion therapy and creative output therapies like art therapy.

Art therapy can be particularly beneficial, especially for individuals who struggle to voice their feelings and struggles. This is often the case with people who struggle with anxiety.

Art therapy is also highly effective for individuals who struggle with mental illness alongside their AUD (or other addictions). According to the peer-reviewed journal Cureus, “Art therapy is used most commonly to treat mental illnesses and can aid in controlling manifestations correlated with psychosocially challenging behaviors, slowing cognitive decline, and enhancing the quality of life. [It] can help people express themselves more freely, improve their mental health, and improve interpersonal relationships.”

Also, there may be no better place to exhibit that creative output than on the Hamakua Coast of Hawaii’s Big Island. Here one can be inspired by majestic waterfalls, incredible overlooks, and even a live volcano. One may paint on the beach or sculpt in a citrus grove under the rejuvenating Hawaiian sun. There are also many holistic healing activities that can be inspired by the environment of Hawaii’s Big Island. 

Healing at the Cellular Level With Holistic Healing Methods

Holistic healing has been going on for thousands of years. This is especially true with yoga and meditation.

According to the spiritual teacher and renowned yogi B.K.S. Iyengar, “Yoga allows you to rediscover a sense of wholeness in your life, where you do not feel like you are constantly trying to fit broken pieces together.” Yoga was originally solely used as a spiritual practice, but it has since moved into the realm of recovery.

Yoga also offers many benefits, including finding a better sense of self, improved strength and flexibility, mental clarity, and increased serenity. Yoga has also been shown to help with essential breathing and sleep cycles. Similar benefits can be found in other holistic healing methods.

There are many types of holistic healing methods. These include mindfulness meditation, music therapy, aroma therapy, acupuncture, and massage. The key is to find a combination of them that works and then use them as supplements in a recovery plan that has a foundation of evidence-based modalities like CBT and DBT.

Healing at the Cellular Level With Exclusive Hawaii Rehab

John Locke also famously said, “The improvement of understanding is for two ends: first, our own increase of knowledge; secondly, to enable us to deliver that knowledge to others.” That is also what we believe in here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab. We are here to impart our experience and use it to help others recover to a state of sound body and mind.

Recovery is always about the journey and never the destination. There may be no better place to start that journey than right here on Hawaii’s Big Island, where recovery is just out over the horizon line. It’s time to go out there and get it.