Hangxiety: How Alcohol Messes with Your Mind

This isn’t a book about sobriety. It’s a book about your brain on booze. For years, alcohol has been sold to us as relief – from stress, anxiety, heartbreak, even ourselves. But what if the very thing we’re using to cope is quietly making our mental health worse? Bestselling author and founder of the Sober Girl Society Millie Gooch names the crushing wave of dread, panic and self-recrimination that can follow a heavy night’s drinking – hangxiety – and finally brings alcohol into the mental health conversation. Blending neuroscience, expert insight and real-life stories, Millie reveals what alcohol is actually doing to your brain – from the science of hangxiety and sleep disruption to the way alcohol interacts with stress, trauma and neurodivergent brains. You’ll learn: · Why hangxiety can happen even after ‘just a few’ · How alcohol can hijack your nervous system and amplify stress · The hidden feedback loop between alcohol, sleep and low mood · What science says about cutting down and how your brain recovers Whether you’re sober, sober-curious or simply questioning your relationship with drinking, Hangxiety offers a judgement-free guide to understanding alcohol’s emotional effects and unpacks the science and psychology of drinking in a way that actually feels relatable.