Tis a heck of a way to read the obvious.
So if I want to go out & meet friends or hang with the hubster and we have a couple of bevs, you're suggesting we're medicating our anxiety?
I didn't suggest this, did I? Let me state the obvious and note alcohol is a substance that effects brain chemistry. If one uses it to feel one way, and not the other way, then one is taking advantage of its neurological effects. As well, this would plug into other factors such as the environment, who's in one's company, etc.
As in:
Some people hang out in the local pubs because it's fun.
In some cases fun alone is an apt response to anxiety. But, I didn't say anxiety drives all behavior.
You can't understand the nature of local pubs (and get the full effect of the social microcosms) enough to pass analytical judgement by peeking in the windows & hypothesizing.
I began an inquiry. Any judgments at the beginning of inquiries are extremely tentative, especially in comparison to what remain tentative judgments later on when there is more data.
However, DL, as a person who brings a lot of chops to bear upon even the nascent stage of inquiry, I may elaborate my sensing in both florid and alien terms, but I, nevertheless, am a careful researcher who understands (my) generalizations at the beginning always will yield to the finer grain discovered later on.
I don't think I've asserted anything-on the face of it-dead wrong. It could be dead wrong, on the other hand.
Buckle up.