An Overly Sensitive Sympathetic Nervous System?

• Alcohol and Generalized Anxiety/Panic by Ian Sharp, 6/8/97
  • Alcohol-induced Anxiety? by Jim Pretzer, 6/9/97
    • Alcohol-induced Anxiety by Charles Tatum, Ph.D., 8/20/97
      
      

It seems plausible that there is a "rebound effect" which temporarily intensifies anxiety as alcohol is metabolized. However, if this is as universal a phenomenon as the previous response seems to suggest, then I wonder why we don't all experience anxiety "the day after." Shouldn't quantity and duration of alcohol consumption make a big difference?

I'm also concerned about the assertion that "Patients with any of the anxiety disorders should be educated about the role of the sympathetic nervous system with the symptoms associated with anxiety. They should be told that they have an overly sensitive SNS..." I am not aware of any evidence that all patients with anxiety disorders have overly sensitive sympathetic nervous systems.

Indeed, my observation is that some patients with anxiety disorders report a history of "always" having been "high-strung" and continue to be relatively high-strung following successful non-pharmacological treatment. I could believe that these patients have overly sensitive SNSs (though more solid evidence would be handy). However, not all anxiety disorder patients fit this pattern. In particular, some patients who report a history of always being high-strung, end up seeming pretty ordinary following successful treatment. Is it that not everyone with an anxiety disorder has an overly sensitive SNS, is it that CBT renders their SNS less sensitive, or are there other explanations?

• (No title) by Ian Sharp, 10/28/97