Gray Area Drinking

Looking at disordered drinking—and how to overcome it—through a new lens

By Amanda Lacey

As the year winds down, the glow of celebration often blurs into the haze of habit. For many, that means pouring one more drink without really asking why. But a quiet movement is growing—people reevaluating their relationship with alcohol long before hitting any kind of “bottom.” Integrative coach Amy Briggs helps clients explore that in-between space, where curiosity replaces guilt and real wellness begins.

AL:  Tell me about yourself and your background in your line of work?

AB:  I am an integrative coach, which involves working with people from a holistic and multifaceted perspective. We work with neural reprogramming, some somatics (such as body awareness, unconscious thoughts and beliefs), and even hypnosis. I work with people in a ‘what’s happening in the present and moving forward’ focus, which is a bit different from therapy, which often looks into the past.

AL:  Can you share the definition of gray area drinking that you would provide to a client?

AB:  Gray area drinking falls somewhere between casual/social drinking and severe alcohol use disorder. So, if drinking is a spectrum, a person who is a gray area drinker is not necessarily addicted to alcohol. Still, there are a couple of important components of their drinking—they drink more than they intend to, and they struggle to stop. It’s not quite in the land of alcoholism, but it’s drinking that affects their life in ways that they don’t feel good about, and it’s hard for them to change that behavior.

AL:  What types of impacts might one experience if they’re in the gray area drinking zone?

AB:  The reason somebody falls into this pattern is that it’s actually a coping mechanism; it’s a behavior that’s helping them with something ironically. Gray area drinking is a way to cope with a nervous system that’s dysregulated. It can impact our physical, mental, and emotional health, as well as our relationships and performance at work—all areas of someone’s life. 

AL:  The word “hangxiety” seems to be floating around online a lot. How do you personally define this, and is this something a gray area drinker specifically will experience? 

AB:  Three critical neurotransmitters help your nervous system stay regulated. GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) helps you relax, while serotonin regulates your mood, and dopamine increases your level of enjoyment. When we drink, all these neurotransmitters get a boost, and that’s why we feel good. But once that wears off, we get that drag, that hangxiety feeling. It’s pretty common, and it’s a pile-on effect that’s probably now setting you back more than the original good feeling.

AL:  When might you recommend that a recovery program is in order? 

AB:  Recovery programs can absolutely help, but I think it depends on the individual. It would be beneficial for them to reach out early, when they feel like they might have a problem, as with most issues, the earlier the better. What I offer is coaching, and it’s a two-pronged approach. It’s not recovery in the sense that I’m not a treatment center, but it’s a coaching relationship where we work on regulating your nervous system and help build habits and daily practices that really nourish your body and your nervous system. Some of it could be practical physical self-care, such as identifying the major sources of stress in your life and working to manage or eliminate them. Additionally, there is more internal work, including self-awareness: Are you carving out time for yourself and engaging in activities that you love and care about? This will build in a resilience that takes away the strong need to cope through turning to alcohol.

For more information, visit amybriggscoach.com and livingcolorhealing.com.