The lurching sensation of panic as you recall the secrets you spilled, the whirr of your brain as you rush to replay every conversation, the voice in your head insisting that you’ve done something seriously awful. If all this sounds painfully familiar, then you’re probably well-acquainted with hangover anxiety, also not-so-fondly known as ‘hangxiety’ or ‘beer fear’. The physical symptoms of a hangover are well-documented, but for an estimated 12% of people, the most punishing part of the morning after the night before is all in the mind.

“I will worry about the most insignificant things, like, ‘Oh my god, I talked for so long about Drag Race last night,” says Louise*, 26. “I know I wouldn’t care about it if I said the same thing sober – it’s just the fact that [it] was influenced by alcohol rather than fully my own choice that gives me the anxious feels. The weight of hangxiety genuinely leaves me not wanting to leave the house the entire next day.”

Raise the spectre of hangover anxiety in conversation and one word – dread – recurs again and again. “I wake up with just this general feeling of dread: about the day ahead, about the night before,” explains Abby*, 31. “I can neither stay in bed and snooze nor get up and feel ready for the day ahead. It’s like getting stuck in this awful limbo and there isn’t really a way out of it, because ultimately the damage – the drinking – is done.”

For Lily*, 30, this dread manifests in a very specific way – and her method of tackling it is certainly unorthodox. “Every time, I become totally convinced that everyone I interacted with on the night must hate me now,” she says. “Friends, Uber drivers, randoms in a bar.” So far, so relatable. “I went through a real phase of doing these big grand gestures for my friends the next morning because I felt this weird guilt. Once I even went to the supermarket and then made everyone shakshuka.”