If you drink to take the edge off anxiety, you are not alone. Millions of women do exactly the same thing. Wine at the end of a stressful day. A drink to calm the nerves before a social event. A glass to quiet the thoughts before bed.

It makes sense. In the short term, alcohol genuinely does reduce anxiety. The problem is what happens next.

Because alcohol doesn't solve anxiety. Over time, it creates it, amplifies it, and makes it significantly harder to address the underlying causes.

Here's why, starting with the science.

What Alcohol Actually Does to Your Brain

To understand the alcohol-anxiety connection, you need to understand two key neurotransmitters: GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) and glutamate.

GABA is your brain's main calming chemical. Glutamate is its main excitatory chemical, it activates neurons and is essential for memory and cognition.

Alcohol works primarily by stimulating GABA and blocking glutamate. Professor David Nutt, one of the world's leading experts in...

Anxiety is something that comes up quite a bit in my line of work. Not for me personally. Well, obviously I experience some anxiety from time to time, because I am a human being. But it’s not debilitating or an issue for me.

It comes up in my groups and 1-1 coaching.

If anxiety is an issue, where alcohol and drugs are concerned; the first thing to do is to deal with the substance. Most drugs are going to make this worse and alcohol is no different.  A side effect of drinking alcohol is anxiety. We can also experience anxiety after drinking and if we withdraw from alcohol.

For the majority of people when they take a break from alcohol the anxiety will significantly reduce.  For some it will still be there.  But there are things you can to do to help. Don’t give up, try things and get yourself a tool box of stuff that works. Things that either give you a break from the anxiety or help you manage it.  Anxiety takes up a lot of energy and can be really tiring.

First though, it’s import...