Embarrassing - anxiety and alcohol

Just needed to share this with some people that might stand a chance of understanding what I'm going through. I felt like my anxiety was getting better this week, I've started using CBT and it was really really helping. But then I has a few drinks last night and lost the ability to use the CBT when I started to get worked up and anxious. It was like all the anxiety had bubbled up over the week and exploded, turning me into this scary person who told everybody she hated them just to make them leave her alone. I feel like there was a lot of collateral damage in terms of upsetting people, especially as everyone there was pretty close friends. I don't know what to do because I've always enjoyed having a few drinks with friends (I only had 3 normal strength rum and cokes) yet I seem to have lost my alcohol tolerance. I also find CBT really helpful at the time and thought it was working, but if its leading me to build things up subconsciously then is it really working? I'm not on any meds and I never want to be.

Yes, alcohol lowers mental thresholds. Yes, alcohol will bring forward the thoughts you're learning to file away or dispose of. Yes, CBT is helpful but won't overpower the effects of a poison added to your system.

Yes, stop drinking until you gain full control of your mind and this anxiety.

E-Man.