Limit caffeine and alcohol if your anxiety is high

Caffeine is known to make folks jittery, since it’s a stimulant, so probably this makes immediate sense. But did you know that caffeine triggers adrenaline, and in enough quantity, it canbe enough to stimulate your fight or flight response, and can actually trigger an anxiety attack? That’s especially true for people with social anxiety and/or panic disorder.

With alcohol, which is a depressant, it can at first numb your anxiety, but alcohol (like anxiety itself) is an asshole, and will eventually stop “working”; it will instead make your anxiety worse. Alcohol can cause changes in the brain that make you more likely to experience anxiety or other mental health disorders. It can also disrupt your serotonin and blood sugar levels.

If you are consuming alcohol or caffeine (or both), track how much you are drinking, and take note of any changes in your mood or anxiety levels. It just might be time to scale back.

Image by Rachel Henning on Unsplash

If you are finding these tips helpful, but would prefer to read them in print form, I’ve created an e-book entitled Lower Your Anxiety that has 54 pages of goodness in it, including exercises to reduce anxiousness and other resources.