LT, in the progression of my drinking problem, I did feel it was a nice way to relax and unwind. It lasted that way for years. However, as I kept drinking more often and more quantities, the habit elevated my anxiety to such heights that I never experienced before and could not even imagine before I got there. It was extreme in the end on a daily basis (after a binge, I never drank round the clock but did daily or nearly daily), often near psychotic - that was the time I first identified with and got diagnosed with GAD. It became an endless cycle, also in the sense that it was completely impossible for me to cut back anymore. That switch broke for life, I think, and the only thing that works for me is 100% abstinence. You can read hundreds of stories like mine online. With total abstinence though, my anxiety gradually but stably reduced to a level that it's not causing any issue now, I notice it but can easily handle it, does not get in the way and I do not register it as a disorder anymore. It was extremely hard to quit the drinking habit at that point and to maintain sobriety int he beginning - the hardest challenge I've faced in my life hands down. I wish I had the motivation and forward vision to stop much earlier, or to learn how to moderate my drinking, but I kinda doubt I would have ever succeeded with moderation - I think I just have a predisposition. I think usually for a long time people who drink/drug in excess do not recognize it as a problem, but when they do and start wondering, it is usually a problem. Anyhow, I don't mean to preach or anything, just sharing an experience.