Alcohol May Reduce Anxiety but Not Fear

You may never think about the connection between fear, anxiety, stress and alcohol but it has been scientifically proven that there is one. Co-author, Emma Childs, out of the University of Chicago, has stated that there is a connection between stress and alcohol consumption and that they tend to feed off of one another. Simply meaning that drinking in a stressful situation is not the best option and may actually magnify the issue. It goes without saying that there are alternate routes to relieve stress. As far as anxiety and fear go, alcohol does nothing for the emotion of fear by will lessen ones anxiety. A group of psychologists out of the University of Wisconsin have conducted a study to prove this fact. Test subjects ranging in the young adult age range, were given a mixture of 100-proof vodka and juice and then put through some predictable and unpredictable induced shock situations. When the subjects were unaware of what was to come, they experienced some anxiety which was lessened by the amount of alcohol that had been consumed. When they knew that pain was nearing, they still consistently expressed fear. With these studies, it has been made clear that the two emotions, fear and anxiety, are neurologically distinct emotions; one of which is not hindered by alcohol consumption. Although alcohol may have calming effects on the human body and how one reacts, it does not make one fearless and should not be considered a safe stress reducer.