To think I can't be the only person alcohol does this to?

[manzolini]

I drink about twice a month and probably get properly drunk about 2/3 times a year. Last night was one of those nights.

I feel great when I'm not drinking, I feel like my life is on a good path, am grateful for the people in my life etc. however, the day after drinking, even if nothing bad happened the night before, I feel this impending sense of doom and as if my life is out of control and that I'm a failure and a bad person.

It's not 'beer fear' because I'm not even worried about something I've done or what others might think about me but I literally feel like I am a failure and that nothing in my life is going right even though it is. It's an internal feeling and really hard to explain.

The best I can describe it is this knot in my stomach and I feel homesick whilst being home. If I have something coming up in the week I catastrophes it when I'm hungover and feel like i can't deal with it and that my life is crumbling. It's like yesterday during the day I was going about my business happy with my life and then today I am a shell of a person.

Does anyone else get this?

It IS ‘beer fear’. Doesn’t matter what the thoughts and feelings focus on.

just the obvious, that alcohol is a depressant.

I avoid drinking to excess for MH reasons.

Alcohol is a depressant so that seems like a pretty normal reaction to me.

primarily because of the kinds of experiences you describe.

I think lots of people have this response to alcohol, I know I certainly do.

Alcohol messes up your brain chemicals. It is a depressant and makes you feel low the next day

I have had spells of it yes. Alcohol is a depressant so it can really drag you down. I also judge myself very harshly for drinking because my mum is quite moral about it and while she might have a glass of wine a couple of times a year she’d never get drunk, so I’ve absorbed the message that it’s shameful.
It hasn’t been too bad for me lately but it can be.

I can totally identify with this - it’s beer fear and completely normal since alcohol is a depressant. I totally get the ‘homesick while at home’ comment too!

Yep. It is the same thing as 'the fear'
Like you say , I don't have to do anything embarrassing or even get too drunk I'll still have 'the fear' the next day
Though I've started calling is booze blues now
It seems worse these days and I think it's because i don't drink very often now

DH and I don't drink that much now for this very reason. I'm not an anxious person but if I have a few drinks my anxiety goes through the roof the following day, it's horrible.

Yes and it most definitely IS beer fear. I never, ever get drunk now as it’s just too much to handle.

You're not drinking gin by any chance are you OP? There's something about gin that can get some people quite maudlin.

Yes, it is a thing.

"L-theanine & lemon balm" is a great natural supplement for this.

Viridian is the one we have.
Its great for a mental clarity lift.

Alcohol depresses parts of your brain - hence a depressant….. to compensate for this your brain releases stressors and stimulants.
these stressors and stimulants last long after the buzz of alcohol and cause that anxious, nervous, somethings not quite right feeling, racing heart etc.
those stressors and stimulants were released to counteract the depressant but now, that the depressant is gone, you are over compensated with said stressors and hormones.
It will pass.

Why do you think that’s not beer fear? That’s exactly what beer fear is

'It's called hangover guilt
Hangover guilt, sometimes known as the "beer fear," is something many experience after a night of too much drinking. When you wake up with a sore head and a foggy memory, you can quickly jump to feeling anxious about what happened the night before.'- beer fear definition.

Because I'm not anxious about what happened the night before?

It's 'the terrors' or 'the fear'. Classic symptoms. Anxiety brought on by massively poisoning your body.

Did you post this a few days ago?

The reason for this is that alcohol is a depressant and it depresses your central nervous system. To cope with this and keep you alive/functioning, your brain dumps a whole load of chemical stimulants into your blood stream to keep your brain in balance/equilibrium. Unfortunately, as the alcohol wears off the stimulants that remain circulating in your blood make you feel anxious, jittery, nervous and paranoid. The only solution to this is to wait until it wears off- a day or two. OR, to take another drink which is what eventually causes a cycle of drinking more to relieve the crappy feeling of sobering up.

Read the book Alcohol Explained by William Porter for a full explanation of why this happens.

Yes of course I think most people get this to a greater or lesser degree. And this is why alcoholics are often grumpy and aggressive when they're on the comedown from a binge (and often obsess about the next drink).

I find this is much worse for me than it was when I was young. When I was in my 20s I could shrug this off. Now I'm in my early 50s my body just can't handle it. Even fairly modest amounts of alcohol massively impact my function and outlook on the world the next day. Binges make me feel totally depressed and like my life is going down the drain (which I don't feel at all in general).

I've basically stopped drinking except for in special social situations. I'm not quite ready to stop altogether (although I may get to this point) but having a couple of drinks mid-week just for the sake of it just isn't worth it for me. Too much pain for too little gain.

Beer fear is the general feeling of doom after a night of drinking, nothing to do with anxiety about what you might have done while drunk

Sounds completely like a version of The Fear to me!

I mean, sure you aren't anxious about what happened the night before - but it makes you catastrophise about the state of your life in general. Which is a form of anxiety.

It can be either.

That literally is what beer fear/ the fear/ “hangxiety” is.

Its incredibly common

This. The typical 'oh god what did I DO?' Is just what your depressed/anxious state latches on to. The feeling is chemical.

I think arguing about the definition of urban slang is probably not helpful. If it’s “beer fear” or not it doesn’t matter. What many have said OP- it’s part of the post-drinking consequence is a lowering of mood and general affect on your mental health, because alcohol is a depressant, it will depress you, and not just in a “slow your reactions, make you fuzzy” kind of way, it can make you feel depressed as well (as those feelings you described are).

Hangxiety.

This plus immediate migraines is why I had to stop drinking (plus horrid diarrhoea). It would last two days. DH still drinks and it doesn't seem to affect him at all.