As someone who has been sober for almost 4 years now, I can assure you that the more you use alcohol as a coping mechanism, the worse off you'll be. It is a never-ending, vicious cycle as you will inevitably need more and more alcohol to calm you (as your body develops an immunity to it as well). I have found that things of non-addictive substances (such as deep breathing, getting a HEALTHY hobby, yoga, anything that will calm you) will be MUCH better for you in the long run. If you are REALLY serious about not drinking, I can promise you the book "Kick the Drink.. Easily" by Jason Vale shows you how we are all "brainwashed" into believing that we are "genuinely" giving something up by abandoning alcohol, and that alcoholism is not a "disease", we are all just programmed to believe that it is a genuine pleasure or a relaxer in one's life. I'm still reading it so I can't give you all the details. One of the best parts that I've read so far is:

Jason Vale said he doesn't know how it feels for a gay person to tell his straight friends that he is gay, but he can only imagine the same shock it would be very similar to the shock of when he first told people he didn't drink. He said that"Alcohol is the ONLY drug in the world that when you tell someone you've quit, they look at you and ask "What's wrong with you? WHY?" BUT if you tell someone "you've quit using the drug heroin or quit smoking cigarettes, you get congratulated and applauded". Alcohol does not relax you, it simply depresses your nervous system, and the reason WHY you feel it relaxes you in the first place is because YOUR BRAIN / YOU believe that it is the alcohol that is calming you but it is in fact the drug itself in the first place that causes your unrelaxed state. .. Think of it this way (this is how I quit smoking 4 years ago).. People believe that smoking cigarettes relaxes you (that's bull bc nicotine is a stimulant, so of course that can't be true). What actually relaxes the smoker (unbeknownst to the smoker) is the fact that person 1) steps outside to take a break from that stressful situation, 2) is DEEP inhaling (they are deep inhaling the cigarette carcinogenic fumes but whatever, they are deep inhaling,and 3) (most importantly), the person is RELAXED BECAUSE their body was in WITHDRAWAL from the LAST cigarette, which shows that the unrelaxed state was caused by the previous cigarette itself. Same for the alcohol. The UNRELAXED state was caused by the alcohol itself.

I would hope that you'd check out the book as it really does help if you have an open mind (as Jason Vale says "to keep an open mind!". I hope that you would make use of it! More people should find out about it as it is a wonderful resource. Good luck to you and keep us updated on how things go!