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Is Alcohol a Depressant? Effects on the Brain and Research

At the same time, behavioral researchers sought to understand the physiological and psychological effects of drinking. Drinking profoundly alters mood, arousal, behavior, and neuropsychological functioning. A few drinks can spark energy, elation, and excitement; it gives you a buzz. For many people, feeling sad or unhappy is a prominent symptom of depression. It can affect many aspects of a person’s life and can even be debilitating.

Drink plenty of water

Depression is different to anxiety (a feeling of worry or fear about what might happen, inability to concentrate and – for some people – panic attacks). But depression and anxiety sometimes go together – feeling anxious and worrying constantly can make you feel low. Physical symptoms can include changes in appetite or weight (usually decreased, but sometimes increased), lack of energy, low sex drive and disturbed sleep.

Factors affecting alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm

Therefore, we form sets of beliefs to interpret the reality around us based on our personal experiences, observations, and what is relevant to our needs. Today, into the fourth year of my sobriety and working as a sober, curious guide, I am still sometimes struck by how stark the gap between our beliefs and reality can be when it comes to alcohol. However, the good news is that within that gap also lies the key to weakening our desire to drink.

Does Depression Drive You to Drink Alcohol?

These drugs are often used to treat anxiety, minimize pain, relieve muscle spasms, sleep disorders, and address other mental health issues. It can also decrease feelings of anxiety and make some people chatty or sociable, even energized. It can also feel rewarding to drink, as alcohol releases dopamine in the brain, encouraging you to keep drinking.

“Alcohol use and depression are commonly and undeniably intertwined,” says Dr. Paul R. Linde, a psychiatric consultant with Ria Health, an online addiction treatment program. Benzodiazepines, for example, can alter mood and trigger depression, especially if you take them for an extended period of time. The risk of depression is greater for older people and those with a history of depression. For this reason, doctors often prescribe sedatives to treat insomnia and other sleep disorders, while hypnotics can induce sleep. Tranquilizers are more often used to treat anxiety, panic attacks, and acute stress, or relieve muscle spasms. They used to go by the name central nervous system (CNS) depressants, which pretty neatly describes what they do.

Mounting evidence suggested that alcohol acted at GABA receptors, but research had still been unable to pin down a specific mechanism. The regions of the brain with the greatest decrease in activity were the prefrontal cortex and the temporal cortex. Decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex, the region responsible for decision making and rational thought, further explains why alcohol causes us to act without thinking. The prefrontal cortex also plays a role in preventing aggressive behavior, so this might help explain the relationship between alcohol and violence (see my last post). The temporal cortex houses the hippocampus, the brain region responsible for forming new memories. Reduced activity in the hippocampus might account for why people black out when drinking.

Taking action to manage negative emotions as you experience them can help keep them from getting too overwhelming. Instead, remind yourself you can do things differently next time. Then, try distracting yourself to help take your mind off how you feel. It often feels very tempting (and treatment and recovery national institute on drug abuse nida easy) to keep drinking until you feel better, especially when you have less access than usual to more helpful coping methods. Increased anger might lead you to pick a fight with a loved one, for example, while extreme sadness or self-loathing could lead to intense depression symptoms.

1. For example, a person with frequent episodes of severe depression may turn to drinking to self-medicate.
2. If not treated, alcohol use disorder can become a life-long struggle.
3. In the brain, alcohol increases the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which results in lower levels of anxiety, stress, and fear.
4. If you have a mental disorder, like depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, or bipolar disorder, it’s common to have trouble with substances including alcohol.
5. Mutual-help groups also can be effective elements of treatment for co-occurring AUD and depressive disorders.

Individuals diagnosed with clinical depression should be extremely cautious when it comes to using substances such as alcohol. According to Kennedy, for those taking antidepressants, combining them with alcohol can reduce their efficacy. For example, having a family member with an alcohol use disorder is a risk factor for both depression and alcohol use disorder. Emerging research has found that there is a genetic link between AUD and depression.

But the jury’s still out, and research is still pretty unclear on how it works. As Annie Grace, the author of This Naked Mind, brilliantly puts it, “When there is no perceived benefit, there is no desire.” By reshaping our beliefs about alcohol, we have the power to weaken our cravings. My favorite free tool is the 30 Reasons Why People Drink checklist. It’s the perfect starting point to help you uncover your hidden beliefs about alcohol and take the first step to weakening your craving.

“Therapeutic interventions designed to address both issues often include a focus on addressing emotional pain or trauma, as well as developing and practicing healthy coping behaviors,” says Kennedy. Alcohol is frequently used to numb uncomfortable emotions and can become a habitual the no-drug approach to erectile dysfunction pattern that disrupts the natural balance of neurotransmitters in the brain. “Excessive alcohol consumption can cause nerve damage and irreversible forms of dementia,” Dr. Sengupta warns. Your body breaks alcohol down into a chemical called acetaldehyde, which damages your DNA.

According to Gray, instead of standing on the ground of reality, we actually stand on the ground of beliefs. Beneath beliefs are conclusions, assumptions, what’s relevant to one’s needs, and our experiences and observations about reality. Let’s break down an example to see how this pyramid works in real life. In this story, each blind man touches a different part of the elephant and draws his conclusion about what the elephant is like. One thinks it’s like a wall, another like a snake, and another like a tree trunk, based on the part they touched.

A psychotropic substance impacts the brain and can affect thoughts, mood, or behavior. Depressants affect the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which slows down your brain activity. This can lead to side effects such as relaxation, drowsiness, slurred speech, decreased inhibition, and problems with coordination. A combination of alcohol use and depression can create difficulties in treatment.

This could have a carryover effect on depression since loneliness and lack of social support are linked to depression. People with depression may use alcohol alcoholism rehab as a form of self-medication. Drinking alcohol can become a coping mechanism to deal with feelings of hopelessness, numbness, guilt, and worthlessness.

However, in larger doses, alcohol typically causes sluggishness, disorientation, and slower reaction times, as it decreases your mental sharpness, blood pressure, and heart rate. Furthermore, some people may experience more stimulating effects from alcohol, while others may experience more depressant effects. Researchers theorize that people who experience more stimulating effects and fewer sedative effects are at a higher risk for alcoholism (4). Examples include nicotine, although it’s most frequently characterized as a stimulant, and alcohol, which is primarily a depressant but has some stimulant effects (3, 4). On the other hand, depressants slow you down by decreasing your heart rate and blood pressure. They can help you feel relaxed and, on the extreme end, completely sedate you (2).

Alcohol use disorders may be mild, moderate, or severe, depending on the combination of symptoms you’re experiencing, but drinking problems can exist regardless of a clinical diagnosis. However, alcohol can make these feelings and other symptoms worse over time, perpetuating the cycle of alcohol consumption and depression. One study of 421 people found that 25% had both alcohol misuse and depression. Even drinking a little too much (binge drinking) on occasion can set off a chain reaction that affects your well-being. Lowered inhibitions can lead to poor choices with lasting repercussions — like the end of a relationship, an accident or legal woes. Each of those consequences can cause turmoil that can negatively affect your long-term emotional health.