The Emotional Hangover: When you crash after socialising
- New School of Nutrition
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
You have just had the best night, where your cheeks hurt from laughing, your voice is hoarse from talking over music, and you fall asleep buzzing from connection. But then, the next morning hits. You wake up flat and irritable, maybe even a little teary. Your body feels heavy, your brain foggy. It feels as if you partied hard and drank too much, but you quit alcohol over 5 years ago and haven’t touched a drop of alcohol.
Welcome to the emotional hangover!
What is an emotional hangover?
Most of us know the physical hangover: alcohol, dehydration, regret. But emotional hangovers are sneakier but just as real. They show up after big doses of emotional or social energy. Weddings, deep heart-to-hearts, family drama, even a work presentation can leave you feeling wrung out the next day.
It is not because you are weak, nor is it because you are 'too sensitive'. It is usually because your nervous system has been riding a high and now it needs to come 'back down' or some say 're-regulate'. You know like kids, when they get so excited, that they turn hysterical and then crash ...well, eventually, they crash, where they fall into a deep sleep.
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The physiology behind the crash: what may be going on under the surface:
Your brain was on a bio-chemical cocktail: socialising and emotional intensity flood us with dopamine, oxytocin and cortisol. It is thrilling at the time, but your brain and body can not stay in that 'on' state forever.
The nervous system has limits. after the sympathetic buzz of connection and excitement (maybe stress), the body often swings into a freeze or 'depletion' state. That is why you can feel flat or heavy the next day.
Minerals get used: big feelings and stimulation consume through nutrients like magnesium, zinc, and sodium. Suppose those reserves are low to begin with. In that case, you feel the crash even harder (a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis is the perfect test to check out your mineral patterns and if this may be the reason for the emotional hangovers).
Hormones lag: cortisol and neurotransmitters don’t switch off 'neatly'. Instead, they can 'hang around', leaving you with brain fog, cravings, or irritability. This can be common in those who have certain SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) in enzymes that make these hormones and neurotransmitters.
In short, your nervous system just ran a biochemically charged emotional marathon. Of course it now wants a nap.It needs to reset.
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Signs that you may be in an emotional hangover
You maybe nodding along, here are some classic giveaways:
Feeling flat, weepy, or irritable after social events.
Craving carbs, salt, or caffeine (your body begging for quick fuel and minerals).
Replaying conversations in your head on a loop ('did I talk too much? Should I have said that?').
Needing far more recovery time than you expected, even after 'fun' occasions.
Sound familiar? You are not ill, you are just feeling the post-re-adjustment from a heightened nervous system chemistry.
Recovery from an emotional hangover
No it is not a full British fry up...but you don’t have to swear off weddings or late-night chats forever. You need tools to help your system recalibrate.
Ground your nervous system: gentle movement, sunlight, barefoot on grass, slow breathing. These tell your body that it is safe to re-integrate.
Replenish minerals: hydrate, add a pinch of good unrefined salt to your water, eat a protein-rich breakfast. Magnesium and zinc-rich foods help, too.
Allow recovery space: instead of powering through, build buffer time after big social days, that way, you don’t interpret the crash as a sickness or failure.
Reframe the story: it is not that 'I can’t handle fun', it is 'my nervous system needing to find it's rhythm again. Now that is a huge difference.
Get a DNA test: if these emotional hangovers get more intense and all too much. It may be that your physiology needs some specific nutrients, for example, you may need extra iron, copper, or vitamin B2. B6, folate etc.
Most people mislabel emotional hangovers as introversion, weakness, or laziness. But when you understand them as a nervous system 'strategy', you can meet yourself with compassion instead of shame.
And let's remember our little precious ones....
The back-to-school emotional hangover
Every September (or January), parents know this feeling all too well.
Kids: first-day tears, after-school meltdowns, sudden tantrums over nothing, or collapsing on the sofa the minute they get home.
Parents: the strange cocktail of relief and sadness when the holidays end. Flat and tired, that is another summer gone. A low-grade 'blues' even if you are glad routine is back.
For children, going from freedom, fun, and late nights to back to structure and 'stimulation' is a massive nervous system shift.
Children’s bodies are flooded with new sensory input, social dynamics, school demands, new teacher, loud children, itchy school uniform, etc. Parents are coming off the holiday 'high' of connection (or chaos), suddenly adjusting to quiet houses, packed lunches, and stricter schedules.
This is not bad behaviour or ADHD, it is the nervous system re-adjusting.
At the New School psychological coaching and nutritional medicine allows students to not only recognise these patterns but to work with these patterns, that are held in our physiology.
Next time you crash after socialising or children have emotional hangovers from starting school, remember that no one is ill or broken, we are all human, and our physiology is doing just what it does best, keeps us well with what it has. Emotional hangovers are a sign from your body that it needs time to readjust.
When you learn to listen to those signs, you stop fighting yourself and start building resilience.
This is the kind of teaching we offer New School of Nutritional Medicine. We teach our students how to blend psychology, nervous system physiology, and nutrition so they can support themselves and their clients in a way connects with themselves and those they support.
If reading this made you feel seen, you may feel at home with us.
To health!
From the team at the New School Of Nutritional Medicine
Learn about the Founder & Principal of the New School of Nutritional Medicine, Dr Khush Mark PhD, HERE.
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