It isn’t always that alcohol drinking is the cause of your depression. But alcohol and depression are undeniably interrelated. Depressed feeling resulting from alcoholism can be traced in how alcohol affects your brain.
An interesting study was published in the Science Translational Medicine Journal. It involved a small number of heavy drinkers and non-heavy drinkers. The researchers found out two very important discoveries about an alcohol drinker’s brain. First, high level of endorphin released in some areas of the brain actually made a person feel better. Second, when a heavy drinker felt intoxicated, endorphin was released in the front area of the brain. Endorphin is the chemical responsible for the “pleasure feeling”.
Alcohol Abuse and Depression
From the study, it showed that alcohol can actually make you feel good. So why do drinkers end up depressed?
Depressive mood happens when you start to abuse alcohol. In many situations, people with severe depression tend to abuse alcohol. It usually sets in first. Then alcohol abuse develops through the years.
Causes of Depression
Deep sadness can affect anyone. Even those who are living in an ideal condition can be depressed.
Sadness when you are depressed is different. It’s not the same sad feeling when you lost a job, or broke up with your girlfriend or boyfriend. Painful feelings come and go when grieving or after a break-up. You still maintain self-esteem even with your loss. But a depressed person considers himself as worthless.
The major causes of depression are serious illness, problem with employment, emotional abuse or conflicts, and death or loss of a loved one. Even certain medications can also cause depressive mood.
Any one of these or a combination can make a person an alcoholic drinker. He may resort to alcohol abuse as a way to cope or perhaps to escape. This is when dysfunctional effect of alcohol happens.
Symptoms of Depression
One in six people may experience depression at some point of their life. It affects about one in 15 adults in the US each year which is a high 6.7 percentage points. It may be first felt in teenage or a later part of teenage life, and up to mid-20s.
Depression may vary from mild to severe symptoms. You may feel sad and disinterested in activities that previously bring you pleasure. You are sleepless which sucks the energy out of you. Then you may feel worthless. The thought of death or suicide can be in your mind.
Gender Inequality in Drinking
Who is most likely to get depressed and end up as heavy drinkers, men or women? Surprisingly, women are easily affected by alcohol and get depressed more than men.
Dr. David Hanson’s research Drinking Men & Women Are Unequal revealed that a woman’s body composition makes it harder to breakdown alcohol during metabolism. Therefore, women become intoxicated easily than men.
Psychiatric studies also show a higher prevalence of depression in women than men. This means that women are more prone to alcohol abuse. This action can harm their brains and lead to serious depression.
Alcohol as a Depressant
Don’t get confused. Early in this article, we learned that alcohol gives you the “good feeling.” The effect depends on the amount of alcohol you take. So it’s both a stimulant and a depressant.
Alcohol abuse can lead to depressive feeling. When you consume too much alcohol, anxiety results from an imbalance of nutrients and chemicals in your body.
Heavy drinking or alcoholism worsens depression since it makes antidepressants ineffective.
Consequences of Alcohol Abuse
Any adult can be easily hooked to alcoholism. We thrive in a culture that promotes drinking.
Drinking with friends gives us a time to enjoy and forget problems. Partying in college and plunging yourself into alcohol feels cool and is more encouraging than going to the library. Drinking after a hard day’s work with office mates is a total relief from the whole day grind. However, all these activities are the start of indulging in more alcohol.
Alcohol can affect every part of your body in many harmful and negative ways.
Bad Decisions
Drinking too much alcohol affects your judgement. You can make bad decisions like spending too much and neglecting a relationship.
Spending too much may lead to bankruptcy which can result to depression. Taking a relationship for granted by prioritizing drinking sessions can lead to break-ups. Work relationship can be affected at times. These situations will surely make the individual very unhappy and disturbed. Dwelling on them can worsen the feeling of sadness and guilt.
You can also become violent. Your judgement may be impaired. You can become impatient and unreasonable increasing your risk of encountering motor vehicle accident or getting into conflicts or fistfight.
Liver Damage
The pleasure you feel when drinking can turn you into an instant alcoholic. Alcohol has some stimulating effects but you can develop greater damage to your body, especially your liver.
The liver is where alcohol gets metabolized each time you drink. Your liver has the capability to transform alcohol into acetaldehyde, a toxic substance that can cause cancer.
Excessive drinking also makes our liver accumulate fat which is the main cause of a fatty liver disease. Too much fat in the liver can affect the performance of other parts of the body.
Our liver can also be inflamed and cause hepatitis . Too much alcohol can inflame the liver and inhibits it to function effectively resulting to cirrhosis. Liver cirrhosis is the excessive damage of liver cells in such level that they cannot regenerate. This can be fatal because it can cause liver failure. Liver cancer can ultimately lead to death.
Neuro-Cerebral Damage
Long term effects of alcohol increases risk of damage to your brain. Alcohol is carried to your blood vessels when not metabolized. Regular consumption of large amounts of alcohol can impair your memory, vision and speech.
Your blood pressure is also affected. It can shoot up anytime and can cause stroke or a heart attack. You are at high risk if you drink excessively combined with a zero-exercise lifestyle and fatty foods.
The physiological and psychological effects of alcohol drinking can lead you to feeling more depressed. Overcome your depression by getting professional help to stop your alcoholism.
I have a son that’s 31 years old he use to be on drugs but has is addicted to alcohol he has been diagnosed with manic depressive disorder he doesn’t take medication for this. He has gotten to the point that if he gets a dollar it goes for alcohol he has also drink rubbing alcohol, he doesn’t work he won’t keep a job he quits every job he quits or gets fired. he needs help with the alcohol addiction and with the manic depressive disorder he doesn’t have any health insurance, everyone in the family has tried to get him to get help with his addiction he won’t admit that he has a drinking problem. I worry bout him getting out and driving when he is drinking that he will get in an accident and kill himself or someone else. There has been times that he would make cut’s on his arms he say’s it helps the pain go away he also claims that he has sold his sole to the devil. I there’s anyway that an intervention could help him get in a place for help he needs it and his family needs for him to get help.