“Alcohol, for some people, can temporarily relieve anxiety. It can also be a distraction — something to fill time,” says Aimee Chiligiris, PsyD, an assistant professor of medical psychology (in psychiatry) at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City who specializes in alcohol use disorder. But alcohol can trigger a cycle of increased use that feeds on itself. For some, routine alcohol use may be a means of masking deeper emotional, mental, and life challenges, and this coping mechanism can turn into an addiction, according to American Addiction Centers. Even if you’re a casual drinker, Dr. Chiligiris says alcohol can have a boomerang effect on anxiety. For starters, alcohol can interfere with your sleep cycle, making it tougher to get a full night of quality rest. And we know poor sleep contributes to anxiety, so reaching for alcohol to calm your nerves may become a vicious circle, she explains. RELATED: 5 Sleep Remedies That May Not Work (and Could Do Harm) A study published in September 2020 in JAMA Network Open compared how U.S. adults reported using alcohol before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and at two time points during it. Adults reported drinking more alcohol and doing so more frequently since the start of the worldwide health crisis. Another study that surveyed more than 800 U.S. adults early in the pandemic found that while 13 percent of people reported drinking less during the pandemic than before it, 60 percent reported drinking more; and people who reported higher stress from the pandemic also drank more. The data was published in December 2020 in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. People have had to deal with a lot of stressors during the pandemic, but drinking shouldn’t be the only coping strategy individuals turn to during tough times, according to Chiligiris and others. “If alcohol is your only means to relax, that’s concerning,” says Timothy Fong, MD, a professor of psychiatry and the director of the addiction psychiatry fellowship at the University of California in Los Angeles. “The real question is not how this increase in alcohol use is impacting heavier drinkers now, but its effects in the next two to three to five years,” he says, referring to how excessive drinking (defined as 8 to 15 drinks per week, depending on your gender) can increase your risk of heart disease, cancer, digestive issues, depression, and anxiety, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Coronavirus anxiety aside, more and more experts say there’s probably no amount of alcohol that’s really okay for your health. Though red wine has been touted as heart-protective thanks to antioxidants such as resveratrol, even low amounts of alcohol have been associated with atrial fibrillation, or a rapid, irregular heartbeat, according to a study published in 2016 in the Journal of the American Heart Association. And there’s even more research to show that excessive alcohol consumption can be detrimental to immune function (per an Alcohol Research study published in 2015), and that it increases the risk of cancer, cognitive problems, and stroke. The bottom line: Reasons abound to think outside the bottle when you’re looking for ways to kick back and relax.
You Don’t Have to Teetotal — but Do Mix Up How You Power Down Every Day
If you’ve been drinking more than you’d like, try replacing happy hour with a nondrinking activity that will activate the reward centers in your brain — and curb your craving. “Trying new things and experiencing pleasure without alcohol use can definitely provide the same sort of pleasure reinforcement you may be looking for with alcohol,” Chiligiris says. You don’t have to abandon your cocktails entirely — or the rituals you share with friends and family, Dr. Fong says. But bring other routines into your repertoire that give you a sense of calm and joy. “Add to your toolbox,” he says. Here are a few alternatives to try.
1. Hang Out With a Friend
Time connecting with friends cheers you up — it releases feel-good hormones like serotonin and oxytocin. Oxytocin calms the stress response, and there’s evidence it curbs the urge to stress drink, according to a review in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Spending time with friends may even help you live longer, research shows. Plan a long walk with a buddy or schedule a phone date.
2. Get Physical
Fong says working out — a bike ride, a walk, or cueing up a virtual HIIT class — can alleviate the stress that drives us to drink. Plus, it will give you a shot of endorphins — a chemical the body makes that triggers positive feelings. Instead of concocting your favorite cocktail, mix up a virgin version, pour out one of the growing number of nonalcoholic (NA) beers, or brew some soothing chamomile tea, which has its own calming properties, according to a study published in December 2020 in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules.
4. Meditate
Fong says meditation can help you relax as much as a vodka martini can. Alcohol chills us out by drowning out the noise and stress. Meditation, on the other hand, helps us quiet the brain and actually relieve stress (rather than just covering it up), he says. Try using a meditation app to get you in the habit. Just remember to put your phone down for a while afterward — doomscrolling or watching the news will just fire up your brain again.
5. Dance (Even if by Yourself)
“There’s something very, very joyful about putting on your favorite music and dancing around the room by yourself,” says Fong. Music releases dopamine, the same feel-good chemical that floods the brain when we drink alcohol, a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2019 showed.
6. Tackle the Overwhelming
Fong says tending to household projects you’ve long neglected can help distract you from the urge to drink — as hard as they may be to convince yourself to do. “No one wants to clean out the closet, but when you actually do it, it brings an immense amount of joy,” he says. Don’t be hard on yourself if your new happy hour habits take a few tries to catch on. Chiligiris says that once her patients make a change, they recognize that their overall quality of life has improved. They sleep better, are less anxious, and have more energy — a virtuous cycle. And if you suspect you are drinking too much and are having trouble cutting back, reach out to your doctor or mental healthcare provider, who can help and recommend treatment if you need it.
