Update

So, last time I posted on here I said I was going to resist alcohol to see how I felt... do you want me to be completely honest? I failed! I went back to my university city, felt nostalgic and eager to visit my old (pretty boozy) haunts and my friend and I had a few wines. This wasn't a total fail however as I still learnt something about my anxiety and how alcohol can impact it. Firstly, I felt zero anxiety the next day. None whatsoever. Now that is pretty rare for me, especially after drinking, but I have a theory on why this happened. I was with my best friend who is also an anxiety sufferer and who I trust implicitly and so I really feel I can relax when I'm around her. I was also in my 'happy place', the city I attended university which makes me feel pretty secure as it's so familiar and holds many happy memories. I spent the following day having Sunday lunch and chatting away to my friend so I didn't have the anxious worries about what I may or may not have done or said the night before in front of people I don't know too well or the time alone to worry about the physical symptoms of lack of sleep and dehydration which normally come hand in hand with a night out. So, what I'm getting at is; alcohol can definitely have a bad effect on you as shown in my previous post however the general circumstances at the time of the drinking have a definite impact on how bad this effect can be. This probably seems obvious to so many people and looking back I can remember other scenarios like this, but sometimes when we (or certainly I!) become anxious our minds can become clouded and it's difficult to remember times when we have been OK and to remember that it really is mind over matter. If I'm having a good day, alcohol will only make me happier (to a certain extent I hastened to add!) and if I'm feeling bad it will exaggerate that. So in conclusion, I think if you feel bad sometimes it's really tempting to drown your sorrows, but don't! The problems will still be there when you wake up the next morning and they will be made worse by uncomfortable physical symptoms resulting in more anxiety. Equally, if you're feeling happy and relaxed, go ahead and have a glass of wine or two if you fancy it, chances are if you're in a good place to begin with it won't effect you negatively. This is just my opinion though and only you know how you react to certain anxiety triggers and when.

On a separate note, I have a new job! I start this month and while I am excited for a new challenge and to get to know a new group of people, I can already feel myself becoming anxious. I'm sure starting a new job is stressful for a lot of people and especially anxiety sufferers so I'm trying to just bear that in mind and make sure that I do as much as I can to prepare before I start to ensure as smooth a transition as possible. I've also thought that it's a great topic to discuss on this blog as like I said I'm sure lots of you will have felt this way before! Before I start my new job in a couple of weeks however, I'm going to write a post on my ultimate nemesis: Health Anxiety. I've already alluded to it in my previous post, however I'd like to take a more in depth look at possible causes and mention some of my findings when trying to recover from Health Anxiety.

Do you have any experiences relating to any of the above that you'd like to share? I'd love to hear about your experiences and any advice you have!

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