Alcohol and Depression: Breaking the Cycle

The cycle of alcoholism and depression is not permanent, but it requires a holistic and integrated treatment approach to overcome. Addressing both conditions simultaneously through therapy, support groups, and medical interventions can provide the tools needed for recovery. Recognising this cycle and seeking professional help is the first step toward breaking free from its grip. Depression itself contributes to the risk of alcoholism due to its effects on the brain’s reward system, where individuals may increasingly turn to alcohol as a self-medicating tool to alleviate negative emotions. Alcohol alters the balance of glutamate, another crucial neurotransmitter involved in learning and memory, leading to disruptions in cognitive function and increased susceptibility to depressive thought patterns.

• For example, a person with frequent episodes of severe depression may turn to drinking to self-medicate.
• It helps people understand events and thought processes that lead to depression and substance misuse.
• Here we look at ways to start addressing your relationship with alcohol.
• Not everyone who drinks alcohol to cope with depression has alcohol use disorder (AUD), Sharma says.
• What this means is that you may be able to drink without becoming addicted, but the risk of becoming addicted is significant.

What’s the Connection Between Alcohol and Depression?

Similar conclusions have been reached in other reviews (e.g., Miller et al., 1995; Miller & Wilbourne, 2004; Moyer, Finney, Swearington, & Vergun, 2002; Wilk, Jensen, & Havighurst, 1997). If you have certain conditions, including depression, you could be at an increased risk of getting alcohol use disorder. If you or your loved ones are worried about your alcohol use or think you have alcohol use disorder, talk to your doctor or a mental health specialist about treatment options. However, alcohol is a depressant that disrupts the brain’s natural chemical balance. Over time, these disruptions deepen depressive symptoms, leading to a vicious cycle where individuals drink more in an attempt to alleviate their worsening emotional state. Research shows that the prevalence of alcohol dependence among people with psychiatric disorders is almost twice as high as in the general population.

• When alcohol hits the brain, it triggers a number of changes, including the release of the body’s feel-good chemicals.
• It can influence your mood and produce feelings of pleasure, motivating you to continue behaviors that make you feel good — like drinking alcohol.
• 2020 research shows that consistent exposure to stress can trigger depressive episodes.
• A separate survey published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that nearly half of people who reported increased drinking during the pandemic said stress was to blame.

How alcohol impacts the body

• Lerner stopped drinking while attending an inpatient program in June 2016.
• Connect with other people, or immerse yourself in an activity you enjoy to help you focus on something else than your bum mood.
• Understanding brain chemistry is key to better decision making to help support both alcoholism and mental health.
• Tietz began feeling intense self-loathing and having thoughts that her husband might be better off without her.
• Another critical brain region affected by chronic alcohol use is the hippocampus, which plays a pivotal role in memory and mood regulation.
• Drinking can seem like an easy way to cope with difficult emotions in the moment, but it’s generally not effective in the long run.
• One potentially helpful way to address and manage depressive symptoms is to identify what factors could potentially be making your depressive symptoms worse, and then begin making small lifestyle changes.

Try to choose something you enjoy so that you are able to make exercise part of your routine. “One way to address sleep disturbance would be setting specific times to wind down in efforts to sleep. They’ll help you identify which thinking style you identify with and then help you challenge those thoughts. There are several factors that can make depression worse, so it can be important to know how to manage them and when to seek help. Alcohol slows down processes in your brain and central nervous system, and can initially make https://ecosoberhouse.com/ you feel less inhibited.7 In the short-term, you might feel more relaxed – but these effects wear off quickly. Cognitive behavioral therapy can also be used to treat co-occurring AUD and MDD, by improving your emotional regulation, changing your cognitive behaviors, and helping you develop personal coping strategies.

Ask The National Institute on Drug Abuse Expert

While stopping drinking will not remove all the causes of low mood, it will remove a very important one. If this becomes your way of coping, it can lead to a dependence on alcohol. Self-medicating is using alcohol as a way to cope does drinking make your depression worse with depression.

Also, teens who’ve had a bout of major depression are twice as likely to start drinking as those who haven’t. And if you start drinking at an early age, your risk of alcohol use disorder is higher. These are all common effects of the initial stages of alcohol consumption. We’re not sure why one person might get a bigger jolt of euphoria from the same amount of liquor than another with a similar body type or metabolism, Koob acknowledges. Many studies have found that alcohol dependence is closely linked to depression.

Alcohol disrupts your sleep

As it turns out, it’s a real phenomenon (clinically it’s called substance-induced mood disorder) that happens as a result of the physiological and psychological impact of drinking too much. A good way of keeping track of how much you’re drinking – to help spot patterns, avoid your triggers and stay within the low risk drinking guidelines – is with the MyDrinkaware app. Another way that depression could lead someone to drink alcohol is through changes in their brain as a result of depression. These changes can heighten the physiological “rewards” of alcohol and increase the likelihood that they will continue their pattern of drinking. It’s drug addiction very important to address both alcohol misuse and depression simultaneously when looking into treatment options, as these conditions are closely intertwined and can exacerbate each other, Kennedy explains. Whether you’re experiencing depression or not, it’s essential to evaluate your drinking habits and consider why you drink, when you drink, and how you feel when you drink.