Is it anxiety or just a hangover? | Mel Robbins #Shorts

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I had no idea that anxiety was a SYMPTOM of a hangover until recently.

I’m going to unpack the relationship between drinking and anxiety in this caption.

After a night of partying, your brain, body and nervous system go through a rollercoaster ride as you experience a massive chemical change from the letdown of alcohol and those waves you feel are a crash in dopamine levels and a spike in the stress hormone, cortisol.

In other words, you will feel waves of anxiety. This is NORMAL. You should expect it.

When you wake up and feel a wave of anxiety, don’t resist it, try not to be scared of it - label it.

You can even try to have fun with it… “Oh hello wave of anxiety… I’ve been expecting you given all that beer I had to drink…”

When you expect to feel those waves, you won’t be so scared of them. And when you’re not scared of those waves, you can learn to ride them knowing that with a little bit of time, a lot of water, some exercise, and something good to eat, it will pass.

And even if you don’t drink at all, the morning is the most common time to feel a wave of anxiety because your cortisol levels are the highest. If you have past trauma like me, alcohol will spike that wave of anxiety first thing every morning.

Understanding alcohol+anxiety is why I don’t drink as much as I used to. I’m happier with better habits.

You can my #5secondrule to 5-4-3-2-1 push yourself out of bed and get moving. Use my #high5habit to tap your vagus nerve and turn off your on anxiety nervous system and turn on your calm parasympathetic one. Hands on heart “I’m Okay. I’m safe. I’m loved” is MAGIC.

And one more thing, unless you’ve been clinically diagnosed, stop saying, “I have anxiety.” Start saying what’s true, “I feel a wave of anxiety.” When you label it that way you’re telling your brain that, like any wave, this will rise and fall and you will be okay.

YOU WILL BE OKAY

I’m going to start putting out more content about conquering feelings of anxiety and sharing simple steps that help you take control.

I would love to hear any questions or topics you’re interested in - in the comments below bc I will use them to guide me and my content for the weeks to come.

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