Anyone find that you feel loads better after having alcohol? Like after a few drinks all your anxiety and worries slip away, and you are able to do things socially you never would be able to do normally? Like at a party recently I got drunk and i was able to carry on a conversation with a girl and even hooked up. Normally i'd be so anxious and timid i'd barely be able to utter anything and just pretend i'm busy doing something else. I'm not saying that you should become an alcoholic, but it raises the interesting question if we do have something interesting to say but its just the fact we're so damn nervous all the time and worried about what people think that makes our mind go blank and what we say to come out as weird.
I hate the way alcohol tastes, but it helps a TON. I feel totally normal and social. When I drink a lot I really come out of my shell and talk to anyone. I just hate drinking it. Lol.
Alcohol actually makes me worse.. like when I'm getting drunk and I start losing control of what I'm doing and saying makes me feel on edge and then I end up doing something stupid and then the next day the embarrassing flashbacks come, I read the cringey texts that I sent and I see the embarrassing photos that I've been tagged in on facebook and the anxiety just gets too much so I don't drink anymore. I prefer to keep a clear head so I can be in control of myself.
Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. If I'm already in a very stressed/anxious state of mind when I start drinking I sometimes feel worse and very panicky. If I'm only a little apprehensive it helps a lot. It does mean that I rely on alcohol at parties and it's very frustrating that people prefer me when I'm drunk. If i was around my closest friends, I act very similar sober to how I am after a few drinks, so it's sad that I can only be myself around others when I've been drinking.
But anyway I think it's a good sign that people feel better after drinking. It proves that we all have the social skills and can interact with others, the only only problem is the anxiety.
Being drunk always makes me feel horrible afterwards. All the horrible memories make me cringe and feel bad about myself and I worry a lot about realistic or unrealistic repercussions. I always fear I did something that people can't forgive. Even though I'm the most harmless guy in the world. So obviously I don't drunk much these days. As a kid I think it harmed me a lot without realizing, being drunk I mean, not drinking per se.
It does whilst drunk. However afterwards I'm always anxious for 2 or 3 days.
I really don't like this thread. It's idiotic to suggest that alcohol is a tool to address social anxiety and by posting this you are suggesting to people to may be desperate and willing to try anything that they should drink lots.
Hmmm, for some weird reason it doesn't work for me - I just get even more emotional. Once I was drunk and not alone,were speaking about something random, when a though of complete misery stuck and I just broke out into tears and the person who was also there was really surprised.
Two years ago I started using it as a crutch in social situations and thought it was great as I could go out and talk to people when I otherwise wouldn't. However fast forward to last year I had built up a tolerance to alcohol and I had to drink more to achieve the same effect.
At the worst point I had a hip flask on me most of the time to deal with any form of anxiety. When you need a drink or two to even do something like go to college it becomes a problem (especially when you're expected to operate power tools)
People started to notice this and some friends started to joke about me being an alcoholic, and now some others cant trust me enough to go out drinking with me anymore. I can hardly talk to those people anymore because of it, despite only drinking one or two bottles a month now.
Another thing to note, if you suffer from depression, its better to stay off drink all together. I have scars from nights I was drunk, alone and miserable - another reason I hardly drink now.
Yesterday I tried social drinking again and it didn't help to overcome my anxiety even at the slightest. For some reason it is not working on me. What was even worse that when I got home I felt really hopeless and miserable at night.
I can only envy all those who can use moderate amounts of alcohol to feel better at least temporarily.
Anyone find that you feel loads better after having alcohol? Like after a few drinks all your anxiety and worries slip away, and you are able to do things socially you never would be able to do normally? Like at a party recently I got drunk and i was able to carry on a conversation with a girl and even hooked up. Normally i'd be so anxious and timid i'd barely be able to utter anything and just pretend i'm busy doing something else. I'm not saying that you should become an alcoholic, but it raises the interesting question if we do have something interesting to say but its just the fact we're so damn nervous all the time and worried about what people think that makes our mind go blank and what we say to come out as weird.
depends what you mean moderate? I think in my case it's a little more than moderate.
About alcoholism: Maybe some are more susceptible but for me it's self-medication and I do it maybe once every 2 weeks maximum. whats the difference to taking benzos before a party?
I agree it's not a solution and alcohol makes you more depressive but I don't think I could every become an alcoholic...the SA itself hinders that (being recognized drunk at work would be like extremely humiliating no?) besides not even wanting to be drunk mostly.
my religion doesn't allow me to drink alcohol and i don't really see the point in drinking... when you smell it the first time it smells horrible, no one likes the taste, so why do it. but i've thought about it still and i can see people would drink to make themselves feel better. and yeah, people loosen up and are more comfortable, that's what my friend says. and well that is cause it makes your mind not work properly and you're less conscious and all, so that makes you feel more comfortable. soo i guess if people hate their social anxiety and drink to make themselves feel better, it could lead to alcoholism, so i wouldn't suggest drinking.
Yes, although i have to be quite drunk for all my anxious feelings to disappear, if it's only a few then they are still there. It's like I'm a different person when I'm drunk, I can be myself and I don't have a worry about what comes out of my mouth, I love that feeling of freedom! However it is bittersweet knowing it's poison I have to put through my body to feel that..
i carry a small bottle of alcohol in case of social emergency.
i don't use it often. but in some social settings, i rather be drunk than become social loser. being social loser is a real pain, which I've been through many times in the past.
hangout with large groups of people, have presentation in front of authoritative people, social settings with lots of teasing, is when i have to use alcohol to melt me and break my shell. it become like a drug i cant live without. luckily i don't meet those situations above often, so i don't become too alcoholic.
Alcohol really only makes me feel better if I'm socializing with people who are more inebriated than I am. I also have less anxiety talking to really drunk people because I assume they won't remember what I said the next day (yes, I know how bad that sounds).
I've also gotten into a nasty habit of drinking alone when I'm really anxious about the way my future is going to turn out (I tend to envision the worst possible scenarios), then feeling like crap the next day.
Oh, I am glad this thread exists. My work days have been so difficult that I am thinking of resorting to alcohol to see if it helps. I tried drinking an energy drink once since an acquaintance said it makes her extra bubbly and social, and wanted to see if it had the same effect for me. It didn't....
I have a hard time approaching people, starting conversations, making eye contact, even asking for important things. Since alcoholic drinks have been reputed to lower inhibitions, it seems like this would work. I'm going to give it a try for tomorrow, wondering what kind would be my best bet~? lol
When I get a good buzz (not drunk) from alcohol, I can feel how it is not to have social anxiety.
I feel like a normal person, talkative and zero anxiety. Xanax is not even close to the alcohol perfection.
while your partying with the alcohol in your brain, its kicking ### and wrecking your guts and liver. its a very deceptive drug. at some point you be drinking to relive the stress caused by drinking. I call it closing the loop. some call it the downward spiral.
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