Alcohol Depression
How To Break The Cycle
People with depression often use alcohol as self-medication which can lead to alcohol depression! Common symptoms of depression include: sadness, unhappiness, feelings of hopelessness, and a disinterest in activities that normally bring, or previously brought, pleasure.
alcohol depression
How to break the cycle
Contrary to popular belief, alcohol is a depressant.
Alcohol has been proven to lower serotonin and nonrepinephrine levels. These chemicals give you feelings of well-being. The medications given to combat depression build these chemicals up to help you feel better.
Alcohol, on the other hand, lowers these chemicals levels within your body which makes you feel worse. Alcohol also temporarily numbs the effects of stress hormones, which also makes you feel worse after drinking.
Drinking alcohol depletes the body’s vitamins and can lead to a folic acid deficiency. This deficiency can age the brain prematurely, as well as contribute to feelings of depression. Antioxidants, which help the body combat disease, can also be broken down by drinking alcohol.
Vicious Circle
Alcohol depression is a disease that feeds into itself. People who are depressed often drink to feel better, but the alcohol leads them to feel more depressed, which causes them to drink more.
You may think the alcohol is helping you forget your problems, it’s only temporary, and once the alcohol wears off, you’ll feel worse. Because alcohol can be addictive for some people, you may need help in dealing with both your depression and your alcoholism.
As a brief side note. I suggest you deal with your alcoholism first. Depression can be more effectively treated once you are in touch with your genuine, and not chemically induced, emotions again.
There are many ways to overcome addiction to alcohol. Those who struggle with depression in addition to alcohol addiction should seek help with both.
ways out
Many alcohol treatments include techniques that can help with feelings of depression. For example, counseling, either individually or in group settings, can be effective for alcohol depression treatment. Since alcoholism has both physical and emotional symptoms, most treatments deal with both.
In addition to counseling, those who want to be cured of alcoholism and depression can consider detoxification programs, which may use medication to help with the physical effects of discontinuing alcohol use, or alternative treatments such as neuro linguistic programming (NLP). There are many treatment options available to you.
Depression can be a serious effect of alcoholism, and because of how alcohol affects the body, it’s a cycle that will repeat itself until you get help for both the depression and the alcohol abuse. Alcohol makes depression worse, and depression can lead to increased alcohol use.
Fortunately, there is help for both, once the cycle is broken, depression and alcohol won’t have a hold over you anymore. You can live a healthy, happy life, free from alcohol.
