Alcohol And Mental Health: Are You Depressed?

Alcohol And Mental Health The Affects May Surprise You

Alcohol and mental health are connected. You may think a few drinks may you feel better, but what are the facts? Who doesn’t enjoy a drink or two? According to the WHO, a fifth of people aged 15 and over are already drinking alcohol. It’s socially acceptable, easy to get hold of, and, for many people, doesn’t seem to offer significant problems.

Unfortunately, just one drink can lead to an addiction, and it’s virtually impossible to know who will be affected. The American Addiction Centres estimates there are 14.5 million people with alcohol use disorder, and that’s just in the US.

It’s common to feel that you’re not suffering from an alcohol addiction. Accepting this fact is one of the biggest challenges in the recovery process.

Only once you’ve acknowledged that you have an issue can you start taking steps to conquer your addiction. However, acknowledging the issue is difficult due to drinking being socially acceptable and the way it affects your mental health.

Alcohol And Mental Health: How It Affects Your Body

Once alcohol has entered your stomach, it is quickly absorbed into your bloodstream. This allows it to travel around your entire body. It causes the following to happen:

Blood vessels widen, you appear flush and will briefly feel warm, but your body will quickly lose heat.
Neurotransmitters in the brain are affected. You’ll feel happy but start to have less control of your body. The more you drink, the more pronounced this effect is.
You’ll feel the urge to urinate frequently, potentially causing dehydration.
Your lover works hard to turn the alcohol into water and carbon monoxide.

The change in neurotransmitters is the most concerning as it can affect your mental health.

Alcohol And Mental Health: Depression

When you drink alcohol, you feel more relaxed. That’s because alcohol is a depressant. It depresses your normal brain function; that’s why you’ll usually feel relaxed and have fewer inhibitions.

Unfortunately, this effect is short-lived. When you drink alcohol consistently, your brain chemistry becomes disrupted. You’re likely to feel depressed, anxious, and even angry.

Continual alcohol abuse will lead to a reduction in neurotransmitters. Lower levels of neurotransmitters will prevent your brain from being able to keep depression and anxiety at bay.

These symptoms will be worse if you’re already suffering from mental health issues.

The result is a state of depression, which can be detrimental to every part of your life.

Alcohol And Mental Health: Lack Of Self-Control

You already know alcohol lowers inhibitions. However, it also creates dependency. As an addict, you will require a certain amount of alcohol to function normally. Finding your next drink becomes all-consuming, leaving no room to take care of your physical or mental health.

Alongside depression and anxiety, you’re likely to suffer a loss of self-confidence. This can further affect your mental health as you will no longer feel capable of handling a variety of everyday situations.

When that happens, you’ll retreat from normal social contact, and this is likely to make your feelings of depression even worse.

Alcohol And Mental Health: Conclusion

Alcohol addiction is a serious illness and needs to be professionally treated. If it isn’t, existing mental health disorders will get worse, and you’re likely to become depressed and detached from society.

Being depressed means you lose interest in the world around you and fail to see the point of life. In severe cases, it can lead to thoughts of suicide.

That’s why if you or a loved one is suffering from an alcohol addiction, you need to take steps today to deal with that addiction. It won’t be easy, but there is plenty of support available.