Writer Elena Adams discusses how to handle post-night out “hangxiety”.
You’ve just woken up. Your eyes feel slightly crusty from the leftover mascara you forgot to take off. There’s a half-eaten portion of chips, and a full glass of water that you said you’d drink next to your bed. Your head hurts, your throat could not be dryer, and you can feel the alcohol sitting in your stomach. You could not feel any worse. But then you start to remember everything you did last night, and you do indeed feel worse.
We’ve all been there, it’s horrible. It could have been a Hive Thursday where you may have indulged in a few too many pints of fun, or a wedding where the complimentary prosecco was too exciting to say no to. Perhaps you decided that buying everyone tequila shots was the best idea you’d ever had (it really wasn’t).
It’s hard not to let your mind run wild with thoughts of how annoying you may have been after having a few drinks. Did you talk too much? Were you too loud? Did you spill emotional trauma to a complete stranger? You’ve made quite the mess haven’t you?
“Did you talk too much? Were you too loud? Did you spill emotional trauma to a complete stranger?”
But, none of that is true. Okay, well it may be a little bit, but it’s probably not as bad as you think it is. Everyone was likely as drunk as you were and also embarrassed over what they said or did. And if they weren’t? Well, it’ll probably make a really funny story down the line. No one cares as much as you about what you did the night before, they’re all too busy reliving their own drunken mistakes.
Talking to your friends can help. They probably think they were really embarrassing too. Once you realise no one else cares, it can be funny to think about all of the stupid things that happened the night before. Some of my closest friends now are people I embarrassed myself in front of while drunk, and then laughed with the next morning.
Allow yourself to relax for the day and try to distract yourself from thinking about last night. Don’t feel guilty about doing nothing. If you feel up to it, take a walk, fresh air always puts things into perspective. Or watch some trash TV and order a takeaway. But if you really hate the feeling this hangxiety gives you, maybe try to drink a little less next time to hopefully mitigate these effects, or have a soft drink between the double vodkas. What you do when drunk is something you don’t have too much control over, how much you drink is.
But, if you do wake up, horribly hungover and anxious from the night before, the best thing to do is drink some water, have a shower, and don’t be too hard on yourself. Besides, what’s the worst that’s going to happen? You might have made yourself look like an idiot, but if you had fun, then there’s no need to worry. Maybe you’ll have made friends or maybe you’ll have a really funny story to look back on in the future. At the end of the day, everyone else is usually too focused on their own drunken antics to really care about yours!
