Substance Use and Anxiety Guide

How Anxiety is Linked to Tobacco, Marijuana, Alcohol, and Other Drugs

This page will be continuously updated with information on substance use/abuse (tobacco, marijuana, alcohol, etc) and anxiety problems.

Self-Medicating

The process of using a substance that is not under the care of a physician to treat a condition is known as “self-medicating”. People often self-medicate for anxiety problems like generalized anxiety disorder though use of tobacco, marijuana, alcohol, and other substances. The common problems with self-medicating are (a) the relieving effect is usually short-term, (b) the actual source of the anxiety is often avoided and left to cause more problems, and (c) there are typically significant physical health side effects.

Smoking and Anxiety: read this after if you are interested in getting more information on how smoking is related to anxiety.

Marijuana and Anxiety: read this article to learn more about the relationship between marijuana use and anxiety.

Alcohol and Anxiety: read this to understand the link between alcohol use and anxiety problems.

Treatment

If you find yourself being caught in a self-medicating process that is causing additional complications for your life, check out the Anxiety Treatment Guide for more information on how to get help that will not damage your health and can create lasting change.