People with an anxiety disorder, for example, may turn to alcohol in order to feel better, thus establishing a coping strategy for their mental illness based on avoiding their anxiety disorder (Gorka et al., 2014).  Research concerning the internalizing pathway to developing an AUD has been conflicting: some studies have suggested that having an anxiety disorder puts an individual at a higher risk for AUD onset, while others have found that having an anxiety disorder reduces an individual’s risk (Gorka et al., 2014).  Because of these disagreeable findings we can conclude that there are other factors at work that have an influence over the relationship between anxiety disorders and the onset of an alcohol use disorder.