The Rise of Hangover Anxiety

It’s often known as “hangxiety,” also colloquially referred to as “The Sunday Scaries,” “The Fear,” or “Beer Fear.” Imagine waking up after a night out and piecing together a blurry recollection of events.

You might turn into someone you’re not when you’ve had a few and have awkward memories of ranting about one of your friends or someone on your course, only to realize the person you were complaining was in earshot the whole time.

Sometimes it’s even more a matter of safety and you wake up with bruises on your legs or not remembering how you got home.

Yikes!

You can’t remember whether you left the club quietely or were kicked out in disgrace.

And to add to all of your, so far hypothetical dread, the group chat is a ghost town and none of your friends have messaged you this morning.

This is enough to make anyone’s mind take a hop, skip and jump to the worst case scenarios and spiral into a pit of self-doubt and embarrassment.

This is hangover anxiety, a combination of physical hangover symptoms and intense feelings of guilt and regret over one’s actions while intoxicated.

Hangover anxiety is more than just a bad hangover. It’s the sinking feeling of dread and paranoia that sets in as the alcohol leaves your system, leaving you to confront the memories of what you might have said or done.

For a lot of us, the fear of this emotional rollercoaster is enough to make us reconsider drinking altogether, well for the next day at least.

How many of us have exclaimed “I’m never drinking again!” In the wake of a particularly bad hangover. Well, this is the reality for many of us who have shared their experiences with hangxiety, and this has been seen in conversations particularly on social media platforms like Threads.

Sharing the intense self-recrimination that follows a night of heavy drinking, and how the mental anguish can often outweigh any fun they had. The fear of waking up to regret and social fallout is a powerful deterrent.

So how to avoid it then? Here are some tips we’ve come up with to reduce hangover anxiety but let us know yours too!

• Plan your trip home before going out! You don’t want to be walking home, dodging traffic, with a traffic cone on your head. Share a taxi home with your friend and your hangover and wallet will both thank you for it!
• Zebra drinking! For every alcoholic drink you have, take a water! Or a soft drink.
• Lower percentage drinks, look at a 2 or 3% lager or a shandy vs. a super strong draught ale. Or if wine is your tipple go for a 7% fruity mixed bottle vs a top shelf 15% bottle.
• Stay away from shots – short term pleasure for long term pain, too many tequilas can often be the reason for your blackout memory!