The Anxiety Hangover: Why You Feel Drained After Anxiety (And What To Do)

Have you ever had a big anxiety spike or panic episode, then felt wiped out the next day?

That foggy, shaky, low, emotionally flat feeling is something I call the anxiety hangover, and it can make you feel like you’ve gone backwards even when the worst of the anxiety has passed.

In this episode, I explain why the anxiety hangover happens, why it can feel so unpleasant, and how to respond in a way that helps your nervous system recover faster without feeding the fear.

You’ll learn a simple day after plan, including what to focus on, what to avoid, and how to keep gentle momentum so anxiety doesn’t steal your confidence.

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Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are concerned about your health or symptoms, please speak with a qualified healthcare professional. If you are in immediate danger or feel at risk of harming yourself, call your local emergency number straight away.

Transcript

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Welcome to the Anxiety Relief Podcast. I'm your host, Ross Rolfe, the Anxiety Coach, here to help you conquer anxiety and build a calm, confident life. In each episode, we'll explore the tools, stories, and insights to help you take control of anxiety and live life on your terms. Without further ado, let's get started. Hello and welcome to the Anxiety Relief Podcast. I'm Ross, and today we're talking about something that a lot of people experience, but hardly anyone explains it properly. And this is what I like to call the anxiety hangover. That day after you've had a big anxiety spike or a panic episode where you wake up feeling drained, shaky, foggy, low, or maybe emotionally flat. And sometimes you feel like you have no energy, right? And sometimes your body feels weak or heavy, sometimes you feel sensitive, tearful, or on edge, right from the off in the day. I don't know, and maybe sometimes you feel like you've gone backwards. And I hear that a lot. Even though the worst anxiety has passed, you've got past it, but it's that hangover from it. If you've ever had that thought, why do I feel like this the next day? And you'll you just can't kind of put get your head around it, then this is the episode for you. Because this is normal. There are a few simple things you can do, though, that can help you recover faster without accidentally feeding the anxiety cycle. So, first, what is the anxiety hangover? So, when your body goes through anxiety or panic, your nervous system has a surge and your body releases stress hormones and adrenaline. So, in this, your muscles will tense, your breathing changes, your mind runs fast, and your system goes into high alert. Even if the episode is more mental than physical, so you might be listening to that and think, like, oh, I don't, you know, I don't notice a change in my breathing. It probably is there, but you might just not notice it. But even if you don't, that's fine. But your body is still treating it like a fret response. And after that, your body needs to calm down, basically. So it needs to come back down. And the problem is, most people expect the moment anxiety reduces, they should instantly feel normal again. But that really is not the case. The nervous system doesn't work like that. If you've had a spike, your body can feel the after effects for hours or even a day or two. It's like if you sprinted unexpectedly, even if the sprint only lasts a short amount of time, the next day your legs might feel it, right? It's the same idea. And your body has been through a stress response and now it's in that recovery period. So the anxiety hangover is not proof that something is wrong, it's proof you are not failing effectively. Now you might be listening to that and you are telling yourself, it's proof that you are failing, but it's not. It's not proof that you're failing, not at all. And it's not proof that you're back to square one, because that's again another one I hear all the time. It's your body resetting. Now, I want to explain why it can feel so unpleasant because understanding this reduces the fear. So, first, adrenaline and stress hormones can leave you feeling tired and wired at the same time. You feel exhausted but still a bit on edge. Second, you've been tense for hours, your muscles can feel achy or weak the next day, and people often describe like heavy limbs, shaky legs, or a weird internal like tremble. Third, your brain can feel foggy because it's being overworked or overworking itself. And after intense anxiety, it's common to feel mentally slow, like spaced out or emotionally flat. Now, fourth, your nervous system can be more sensitive the next day. And that means normal sensations, normal emotions, or even normal stress can feel bigger than before. And that's where people often get trapped because they wake up with that hangover feeling and their brain says, here we go again. They start the scanning, they start checking, they start analyzing, they start judging the day before it is even started. And that is what turns normal recovery into a new anxiety loop. So, what's the most important message of the whole episode? The anxiety hangover is not the problem. The fear and analysis of the anxiety hangover is the problem. So we want to respond differently. And I'm going to give you a simple plan for the day after anxiety, and it's not complicated, and it works because it supports your body and stops you feeling the fear. So here it is. First, normalise it. Second, support your body. Third, keep gentle momentum. Fourth, reduce checking and reassurance, and fifth, end the day with a calm signal. Now let's go through that, and I'm gonna break this down bit by bit so that all makes sense because I appreciate that's suddenly just five things thrown at you, right? So, first, we normalize it. So when you wake up and you're feeling off, say this to yourself my nervous system had a spike, my body is recovering. This is normal after an effect, it will settle. This is not, however, positive thinking. I want to be certain, I really, really want to be certain on that with you, right? So this is not positive thinking, it's accurate thinking, right? So I've seen these kind of comments by people before where they go, oh, that's just common, that's um just positive thinking. It it's not, it's totally different, right? And when I say that you can say this yourself, you can say it in your head, or you just remind yourself of the knowledge of that, right? So it will settle, yeah. It is totally different from positive thinking when you've gone through them steps. It is accurate thinking. Accurate thinking, yeah, that's the point I want to get across here. And the quickest way to extend that hangover is where you treat it like a threat. And this is what that's what most people do. They think it's a a threat, and they extend that hangover by treating it like a threat. Okay. So we don't do that. So let's just go over that again, just to be really certain. So the first bit is the normalizing. So that's where you're thinking to yourself, not thinking about, oh, it's off, I feel like this, it's all going wrong, etc. No, no, no, right? You are saying you're literally basically just saying to yourself, my nervous system had a spike, my body's recovering, it's okay. Yeah, this is normal after what I've been through, and that will make it settle. It will settle, okay? So then the second bit is support your body. And there are three basics that make a big difference here, okay? So this is supporting your body, and this again, this may seem really obvious, but people just genuinely do not do it or do not do it consistently, or they massively devalue how much this is. They it sounds too simple to work, but it does, right? And that is this hydration, food, movement. Yeah, so this is step two hydration, food, movement. You're supporting your body. So after anxiety, people often forget the basics, they avoid them because they feel too tired. Start with water, even if even if you just have a glass, right? Your body dehydrates during stress, and the dehydration can make symptoms feel worse. So having a drink will naturally make you feel better. Then eat something small. You don't need a perfect meal, but a little bit of food helps stabilize your system. And third, do gentle movement. Now, this is important, and a lot of people think I feel awful, I must just rest all day, I don't want to do anything, etc. etc. etc. Right. And sometimes, yes, rest is needed, but too much resting can make your nervous system even more sensitive, and that is definitely what we want to avoid, and that's because you stay stuck in your head, yeah, and you're scanning and waiting to feel normal again. That keeps the cycle going. So that little bit of movement, just going for a little walk, doing something, moving something, tidying something, that can be enough. And that gentle movement helps your body process that leftover energy and tells your brain, we're safe enough to move now. Yeah, we're safe enough to move rather than hide. And it really could even just be the shortest of walks, guys. I'm not about you have to go doing something massive, even just some stretching, yeah, having a shower and getting dressed, like tiding like the smallest area, wipe a unit down, like all of that can make a difference. Do not un do not underestimate like how much that can make a difference for you. You will then want to kind of get that gentle momentum at this point, as your as the third bit, right? And this is where most people either help themselves or h or harm themselves, right? And that's if if you treat the day after anxiety like a write-off, like you've act you you can accidentally teach your brain that every time you have this spike or whatever, that anxiety then steals days from you after, and your brain will hate that. So it becomes more vigilant, trying to prevent it from happening again, and instead just aim for normal, but smaller. Because what you don't want, you don't want your brain being vigilant, trying to stop it again, because then you're stuck in the cycle and it's more likely to happen again, right? One or two simple tasks, like one small social interaction, if you can, a short walk, like I said before. Yeah, um, trying to think of other things, doing a school with a school run, go into the shop, nothing heroic here, guys. Like these things will make a difference for you. I absolutely, absolutely guarantee it. And it just needs to be enough to send the message to your brain that life continues. And this is how you rebuild trust and belief in yourself. So, fourth is when you want to start reducing, reducing, making up a word there, reducing the checking and reassurance of yourself, right? So the day after anxiety, your brain wants certainty, it wants to make sure that the hangover feeling doesn't, you know, or isn't something else, there isn't something wrong with you. So it tempts you into checking, right? And how do I feel now? It's the kind of thing going through your mind. Is my chest normal? Is my head foggy? Do my legs feel weak? That sort of stuff. What if, and it might, yeah, so it might even be like, what if this actually means something? What if I have got worse? What if I'm uh I can't be cool to this now? And every check keeps you focused on the problem. So give yourself a simple rule. Today I am not measuring recovery by how I feel, I'm measuring recovery by how I respond. If you feel symptoms that you kind of, you know, you don't need to check them. Okay, so you you can if you feel them symptoms command, you don't need to check them. Just notice them and continue. And that is what teaches your system to settle. So the fifth point, end the day with a calm signal. Hangover days often when people do one of two extremes, either they do nothing all day and feel more anxious, or they they kind of overpush to prove they're fine and burn out, which is like they're not used to doing that. So good middle middle ground would be this, right? In the evening, do one thing that signals safety, a warm shower, a calm TV show, not some like you know, super stressful one that gets you all anxious. Um, a light stretch, read a book, a tidy little spot in your house just going to tidy that, yeah, or sit in a nice, tidy space in in the quiet, something like that, right? A just a gentle wind down is what we're getting at here. And it doesn't have to be like a ritual, it's not like I'm not saying you have to just every night of your life or anything, like we're humans, yeah, it's it's difficult, but this will make a real big difference for you. And this the whole point of this bit is it's just to message your nervous system that the day is safe and you can now settle. You can now you know start getting back into that normalized way of being, but letting your body know that it's it's back to that level peg in. It doesn't need to be on edge anymore. So let's say you had a s a let's say you had a panic attack yesterday, for example, right? Today you wake up feeling foggy, shaky, and low. The old pattern would be you lie in bed longer, you scan your body, you cancel everything, you google, you maybe reassure yourself, and you feel relief for a moment, and then you feel worse and more fragile. Okay, so that is what you would be doing prior to listening to this episode. Okay. Now, here's what we want you to do. So, this is the new pattern. You wake up and you say this to yourself this is just the anxiety hangover. My body is recovering. You drink some water, you eat something simple, you get dressed, even if you have to take your time to do so, even if you don't want to. You go for a short walk or do a light bit of movement, you do one small task, you keep the day gentle but normal, and you reduce that checking, and you end the day with something calm. That is how you shorten the hangover, the anxiety hangover. That is it. Nice and simple, and that stops it turning into another spiral. Now, one important reminder here if you're having regular intense anxiety spikes, the hangover can keep on coming. And that can make you think, this is my life now. Well, I am here to tell you it isn't. This is the nervous system pattern, okay? And patterns can change. But in the short term, treat the hangover with respect, but not fear. And if you want one phrase to repeat on these days, then use this. My nervous system is recovering. I don't need to fix this. I just need to support my body and keep gentle momentum. So let's just have a quick recap here. The anxiety hangover is common, it is your body recovering after a stress response. The danger is not the hangover, the danger is the fear, the checking and analysis analysis analysising, I'm literally making words up. It's that analysis, yeah, and keeping your nervous system switched on. Support your body with water, food, and gentle movement. Keep the day normal but smaller. Reduce the check-in and reassurance, and end the day with a calm signal. And if today is one of those days for you, I really want you to hear this. You are not going backwards, you are recovering, and the way you respond today will make tomorrow easier. I really, really promise that to you. The way you respond today will make tomorrow easier. Be your best friend for tomorrow. Do something today that you can be proud of yourself tomorrow. And that will make your day and your life easier, especially as you build up consistency and momentum throughout the week, throughout the month, throughout your life. If this episode helped, share it with someone who always feels wiped out after anxiety or save it so you don't miss any future episodes. Because just knowing that this is normal can remove a lot of fear. And make sure you follow the podcast so you don't miss the next episode. Thank you for taking the time to listen, and I'll see you in the next one. Thank you for tuning in to the Anxiety Relief Podcast. I hope today's episode left you feeling a little more calm, confident, and in control. Remember, small steps every day can lead to a big transformation in your life. If you found this episode helpful, please don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who you think might benefit. For more tools and resources, head over to my website at www.roscrolf.com. And don't forget to join the Anxiety Relief Hub on Facebook, which is a supportive community where you can connect, share, and grow. Until next time.