Individuals with social anxiety disorder may use alcohol to self-medicate and manage anxiety symptoms in social settings. This behavior can become negatively reinforcing, as the substance alleviates the discomfort of anxiety, thus encouraging repeated use as a coping strategy. This pattern of self-medication significantly increases the risk of developing a comorbid alcohol use disorder.

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•Depression 

•Anxiety 

•Stress 

•Work Fatigue 

•Alexithymia

Mental Health Issues Related to AUD

The conditions that are commonly and significantly linked with social anxiety disorder are mood disorders, such as depression, substance abuse disorders, and other anxiety disorders.

Disorders Strongly Associated with Social Anxiety Disorder

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

Alexithymia is a neuropsychological condition causing the inability to identify one's emotions and/or describe their emotions. Those with this condition have reported that drinking alcohol helps them feel more at tune with their feelings and/or makes it easier to discuss how they are feeling with others. Additionally, there was a connection between someone having alexithymia and reporting feeling alone and not (emotionally) close to others. Reports have shown that people with alexithymia have turned to drinking to try and combat these feelings.

Alexithymia and AUD

There is a connection between stress and high levels of alcohol consumption. The stress and work fatigue go hand in hand, as one becomes more stressed in their work and work environment, they tend to experience more exhaustion and burn out in their job. Research shows that alcohol consumption is used as a coping strategy to try and "fix" one's stress, as well as using alcohol in an effort to avoid their issues and ignore their stress.

Stress and AUD

Patients who had been diagnosed with depression were observed to be at a higher risk of alcohol use disorder.

AUD and Depression

Alcohol Use as a Coping Mechanism in Social Anxiety Disorder

Read the following case study. Based on the common patterns of co-occurring psychological conditions, analyze the patient's symptoms to identify the most likely additional disorder they are experiencing. Justify your answer by connecting the symptoms from the case to the known associations.

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