The real reason we get ‘The Fear’ after a big night out

Today is New Year’s Day, and as the nation rang in a new decade last night, I think it’s a safe bet to say a lot of us are feeling worse for wear right now.

If you are one of the many people with a massive hangover today, that awful physical feeling might also be accompanied by a creeping sense of dread, a feeling that you did something last night that you really shouldn’t have – The Fear.

But what is The Fear? Well, it’s a feeling a lot of us get after a big night out, which tends to involve an overwhelming sense of shame, anxiety and regret, often for no apparent reason.

Don’t worry if you have The Fear today, as you aren’t alone. And not only is it a pretty common feeling, there’s some science that explains why we feel this way after consuming alcohol.

Liz Burns, a lecturer of Mental Health Nursing at Salford University with a specialism in alcohol services, told the Manchester Evening News: “Feeling anxious the next day is down to the interaction of chemical compound glutamate. We may feel fearful because we can’t remember everything that happened the night before; it’s not at the forefront of the mind.

“We may be able to piece together moments, and memories can sometimes come back to us when we’re stimulated by something.”

Our inhibitions ‘turn off’ when we have a drink, making us relaxed, confident, but also clumsy, while our memory becomes impaired, due to brain processes slowing down, as we try to remember what we did the night before, Burns says.

Burns added: “When blood alcohol levels increase with the more we drink, the more ‘switching off effect’ we experience. The more we drink, the faster our liver has to work to break down the alcohol and when it exceeds this rate, that is when we become intoxicated.

“But drinking so much in a single episode can be very dangerous. It can result in alcohol poisoning and in some instances, the body can become unconscious.”

On top of that, a night of boozing usually means we have an awful night’s sleep, which is bad news for your mental wellbeing.

According to Burns: “Someone may think they slept because they had their eyes shut, but the liver is working overnight to break down the alcohol so it’s not a restful sleep and affects the quality. In the longer term, mood problems may occur as people might drink to feel better – but it’s a vicious cycle.

“Feelings of anxiety may initially feel better with drink. Others may have a ‘night cap’ to send them off to sleep, but it’ll actually cause disruption and they’ll be awake earlier.”

But how can we avoid The Fear? Burns says the best way is low-risk drinking rather than the binge-drinking the UK is known for.

This means limiting your alcohol intake to 14 units per week, spread out over seven days – although after last night you might just want to quit drinking forever, and who could blame you.