The Relationship Between Alcohol And Social Anxiety
When we are bad, we look for ways to stop suffering psychologically, it is a natural impulse. And alcohol is probably the “remedy” par excellence to try to temporarily escape from psychological and emotional problems (although, paradoxically, it makes them worse in the long term).
While alcohol can provide temporary relief (it is basically a nervous system depressant, a painkiller), Alcohol is an addictive drug, and has a close relationship with social anxiety
The link between alcohol consumption and social anxiety
When we talk about addictive behavior problems, we have to talk about dual pathology. There is a very high comorbidity between addictions and other psychological problems. One of the most common combos is alcohol and social anxiety or phobia.
Social relationships and interactions are complex, and as Sartre said “hell is others.” Social events are often the most terrifying situations in the world for many people. And that is why alcohol consumption is so important (that the vast majority of people start in adolescence and at increasingly younger ages).
Alcohol consumption can have many functions at a behavioral level, but without a doubt the most important is to appease symptoms of social anxiety or insecurity (temporarily).
Alcohol is the social drug par excellence, because it makes people quickly forget the sense of shame, the fear of ridicule or what other people may think. Paradoxically, consuming too much alcohol can lead to the most embarrassing situations in a person’s life (that they would only be aware of the next day).
Social anxiety (also known as social phobia) is a psychological problem characterized by an intense and persistent fear of some social situations or in public where.
People with social phobia feel watched by others, and this causes them a lot of distress. They also often experience an extreme fear of being humiliated, embarrassed, or judged by others, which can lead to avoidance of various social situations.
Alcohol as self-medication
Most people are accustomed to using alcohol as a way to “break the ice” and relieve social tensions, as well as the fear of ridicule and awareness of . For people with social anxiety, alcohol may seem like a good solution to calm symptoms, at least in the short term.
Alcohol can lower inhibitions and give a (false) sense of confidence, making people temporarily forget about their insecurities. However, the relationship between alcohol and social anxiety is complex and often problematic.
Therefore, it is important to understand that the vast majority of people consume alcohol as an attempt to calm the symptoms of social anxiety, and it is one of the reasons why alcohol is the most consumed drug in the world.
The risks of drinking alcohol to overcome social anxiety
While alcohol may seem to provide temporary relief from social anxiety, long-term risks and negative consequences far outweigh temporary benefits
Drinking alcohol regularly to cope with social anxiety can lead to the development of alcohol dependence. Additionally, as the body develops a tolerance to alcohol, people often need larger and larger doses. Maybe before they had a drink and that was enough for them to feel comfortable at a party, but over time many people develop the tendency to drink very quickly, ordering several drinks in less than an hour, because they feel in a hurry to get to that point. point” where they felt confident and did not feel the symptoms of social anxiety.
The most paradoxical thing about consuming alcohol to avoid social anxiety is that It often puts people in situations that cause them much more shame and ridicule than if they had not drunk alcohol Many people will be blushing as they read this article and remember all the times they have had “too much” to drink and lost control, fell, did something ridiculous in public, or even got into more serious or dramatic trouble.
Social skills and alcohol consumption
Another problem with drinking alcohol to calm social anxiety is that alcohol worsens social skills in the long term If a person feels somewhat shy or insecure in certain social situations (which is normal and natural and not at all pathological in itself) and gets used to drinking alcohol quickly to make that discomfort go away, they lose the opportunity to practice and improve their social skills.
There is a very high comorbidity between alcohol problems and social anxiety (many research speaks of 30-40%). On the one hand, people with social phobia are more likely to drink (more) alcohol as an escape from anxious thoughts and sensations. Not only do they use alcohol to “embolden” themselves and dare to talk to other people, dance, feel funnier, etc.
They also use it to forget more quickly about situations in which they consider that they have made a fool of themselves, have exposed themselves, have said something inappropriate, or in which it has been noticed that they were nervous.
The other direction of causality for the alcohol-social anxiety correlation is that when a person learns to rely on alcohol to feel comfortable at social events, they miss opportunities to improve their social skills. That is, the more often a person drinks, the more “clumsy” they will feel in their interactions if they do not drink alcohol. And you will feel more fear when you find yourself in a social situation without drinking, which will reinforce that dependency and bring you closer and closer to an addiction problem.
And thus the behavior of alcohol consumption will be reinforced more and more, as it is strongly associated with the reduction of symptoms of social anxiety. And by increasing and generalizing alcohol consumption, the chances of ending up developing an addictive behavior problem will also increase.
How to overcome social dependence on alcohol
My name is Luis Miguel Real, and I am a psychologist specializing in addictions. I have helped thousands of people stop depending on alcohol or other drugs, and live much happier than ever.
If you want to stop depending on alcohol to feel good (and learn to feel much better), contact me and we will start working as soon as possible.
