Substance Abuse and Anxiety
4″I drink to mellow myself out so I can be more social.”
“I enjoy drinking because it makes me the life of the party.”
“I’m going to need a drink after this week at work.”
“These kids or these people are driving me to drink.”
Are these things you have said or heard? They seem like harmless statements, but maybe they are a sign that there is an underlying issue of stress in social situations that people experience. For some it is a serious issue.
“About 15 million U.S. adults, or 7 percent of the population, have social anxiety disorder in any given year. And it isn’t unusual for people with social anxiety disorder – or other anxiety disorders – to drink excessively to cope with symptoms or try to escape them” (Anxiety Anxiety Disorder and Alcohol Abuse, 2010-2016).
Read full article here.
The hard part about it all is getting the right medication for anxiety for when your not drinking…alcohol makes any doctor afraid of prescribing that sort of medication