So... for a while now, whenever something (negative) flares up in my life, i've often found comfort in drinking alcohol to smooth the edges. Which works well! Except for the negative bits... i.e. i tend to feel unhealthy inside on a daily basis... i tend to get less sleep... i tend to do less things after work. For someone like me that wants to do a lot of things outside of work, the effect that alcohol was having on me was making me unhappy a lot of the time. I would compensate for this by drinking more coffee to make me more alert.. more productive.. but i found myself becoming increasingly more anxious about things, which only heightened the feelings i had during the negative periods. I've started to really look at myself in detail (the things i do, the things i eat and drink) and have become obsessed almost with how each of them impact on my wellbeing - i guess that's a healthy obsession. The reason i do it is because it helps me see a direct link between my actions and the way i feel, which helps me make decisions that i can feel positive about... i.e. "one less drink tonight... think about how you will feel tomorrow". I've found that all the little 'micro wins' like this have really helped me a lot more than having a chat to a psychologist alone. Having said that though, the psychologist was completely necessary alongside the other things I have been trying to improve my state. Has anyone else here tried this and had any success? Did you bring anything else into your life to help lower your anxiety?