It’s Time for All of Us to Accept the Link Between Alcohol and Depression

Once we accept the link between mental health and alcohol use, we can all do something about it.

Friends, family, commercials, TV, and movies all tell us that drinking alcohol is a great way to unwind and relax.

Alcohol companies spend billions of dollars each year on advertising to create a culture that encourages drinking and makes people feel bad about themselves if they don’t drink. These messages are problematic because they create unrealistic expectations for what drinking can do for you.

Alcohol is a depressant.

You may be familiar with the term “depressant” and know that alcohol is one, but you may not know exactly what it means.

Alcohol is a depressant, which means that it slows down your brain’s activity. Most of the time, drinking alcohol slows down your reactions and makes it hard to make good decisions.

In addition, alcohol can cause you to feel tired or sleepy. It may also lead to slurred speech and difficulty walking or standing upright.

It’s also widely known that drinking can cause problems for people who struggle with depression. But how? And why?

Depression, anxiety, and alcohol are linked.

Depression and anxiety are both common mental health problems that many people experience at some point in their lives, and sometimes the two illnesses occur together. These mental health issues can hurt your daily life and affect how you feel, think, and behave.

Depression affects about 9 percent of the U.S. population at some point in their lifetime, but the numbers are even higher for those who experience anxiety (about 18 percent).

It might be hard to imagine how these conditions could be linked, but research has shown that there are indeed associations between them.

If you’re wondering whether this could apply to you, know that:

Depression and anxiety can cause emotional distress and interfere with your daily life; they may also affect how you see yourself and the world around you.
Depression and anxiety are treatable with medication, therapy, or a combination of both.
There are other ways to cope with depression besides drinking too much alcohol.

Here is a link to resources; there is hope, and you are not alone.

How are depression and anxiety linked to drinking?

These conditions aren’t caused by drinking, but they can make it harder for some people to stop drinking once they’ve started. People with depression or anxiety may feel like they want to escape reality by using alcohol or other drugs. This can lead to an increased likelihood of developing problems with substance abuse.

Let’s explore the link between depression and alcohol specifically in more detail; we’ll tackle anxiety next.

The alcohol-depression relationship is complex. Despite a large body of research indicating a link between alcohol and depression, there is no consensus on how the relationship works.

Sometimes alcohol may play a role in the onset of depression, but the link between alcohol and depression is not one-way. The research does prove that there is a correlation between the two; that doesn’t mean one necessarily causes the other, but it does mean there’s a definite connection.

Alcohol may feel like it helps with depression in the short term, but it’s important to understand that it’s only a temporary solution. In the long term, alcohol does not help with feelings of depression and can make things worse. That’s because drinking doesn’t change anything about your life or make any problems go away; all it does is mask them for a while so you don’t have to deal with them as directly.

The bottom line: Alcohol can cause symptoms of anxiety or depression by itself, but it can also make those feelings worse if they’re already present in your life.

Depression, anxiety, and drinking affect each other in ways that can make your problems worse or more difficult to deal with.

The research on anxiety and alcohol is similar to that on depression. While each of these conditions can be difficult to live with on their own, they’re even more difficult when you have them along with a drinking problem. This is because alcohol use disorder (AUD) is closely linked to depression and anxiety. Almost 7 million adults said they had AUD at some point in their lives and also had depression or anxiety symptoms in the same year.

Researchers have found that there are several reasons for this correlation:

People who have a mental health condition may be more likely to try alcohol or become dependent on it.
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) can make people feel depressed or anxious, which can lead them to drink even more heavily.
People who have experienced a traumatic event are more likely to have both an AUD and a mental health condition.
Those with a history of substance abuse may be at greater risk for developing depression due to an increased likelihood of withdrawal side effects when stopping or reducing their intake.
Someone who is depressed or anxious may turn to alcohol as a way of coping with these feelings.
Regular heavy drinkers are more likely than non-drinkers — or even occasional drinkers — to suffer from sleep deprivation, which itself has been linked to worsening mood and suicidal thoughts as well as suicide attempts.

Even though research is still going on, all of these things likely play a role in the link between alcohol use disorder (AUD) and depression and/or anxiety.

If you’re concerned that your drinking may affect your mood or mental health, talk to someone, like your doctor about treatment options (that’s what I did, and I do not regret it).

Alcohol as medication for depression and anxiety.

We all know people who drink when they feel sad, stressed, or anxious. If we don’t, we’ve likely seen it on TV or in a movie. While some people feel that alcohol helps them cope with their depression or anxiety, the truth is that it’s not effective. It can make the problem worse, especially if you’ve been using it as a way to self-medicate.

If you find yourself drinking more frequently or turning to alcohol when your mood is low or when you’re stressed or anxious to cope with these feelings, you may be self-medicating.

Self-medicating is defined as using a substance to make oneself feel better or different. It is a pattern of using alcohol or other drugs to try to deal with the symptoms of an underlying mental health problem. Even though it can temporarily cover up these symptoms and give short-term relief, it usually doesn't work in the long run because it doesn't treat the problem at its root.

The American Psychiatric Association defines a substance use disorder as “a cluster of cognitive, behavioral, and physiological symptoms indicating that the individual continues using the substance despite significant substance-related problems such as health complications, failure to meet major responsibilities at work or home, legal problems, interpersonal difficulties, as well as continued use despite awareness of physical/psychological problems associated with their use.”

This definition applies whether you're using alcohol or another drug to help yourself feel better when you're sad or worried.

Not only can self-medication cause harm for individuals suffering from depression, but it can also cause harm to those around them who worry about their loved ones’ addiction behaviors and the health risks associated with alcohol abuse (elevated risk for heart disease).

It’s important to remember that alcohol is not a cure for stress, depression, or anxiety. Research has shown time and time again that as much as alcohol may help you cope with negative emotions in the short term, over time it can make these feelings worse by causing a chemical imbalance in your brain, which then leads to more frequent feelings of sadness or irritability or further sleep disturbances.

If you are already taking medication for anxiety or depression, alcohol can make everything worse, and even more dangerous.

Drinking alcohol can cause major problems for people with depression who are taking antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication (or both). The problem is that drinking acts on the same brain receptors as certain medications do—receptors that help regulate mood and anxiety levels—so if you drink while taking either type of medication, it’s like trying to drive two cars at once. You might end up crashing into things or losing control over where your vehicle takes you.

When combined with antidepressants, alcohol significantly raises blood pressure, increasing the risk of stroke and heart attack in people who are depressed and also drink heavily.

Forget the labels: if you’re not feeling your best, have you considered how going alcohol-free might help your health as a whole?

If you notice that you feel depressed or that your feelings of depression and/or anxiety worsen after drinking alcohol, consider quitting or cutting back on your consumption for a while and seeing if things get better.

If you’re currently drinking to cope with problems such as anxiety or stress in everyday life, try talking to someone about how they handle these situations instead. When we find ourselves in difficult times, humans naturally seek ways of coping with our worries and stresses—but there are many other options besides alcohol! Here are some of the things you can look forward to if you decide to ditch drinking and some tips for getting by from my article about Dry January.

If nothing bad happens when you quit drinking (and trust me, nothing bad will happen because you decide to STOP drinking), why not give full sobriety a go?

That said, people who quit drinking still experience symptoms of depression.

It’s also important to recognize that quitting drinking isn’t a cure-all. It might help ease some of the symptoms of depression, but it won't magically fix your mental health problems. Many people have successfully quit drinking and still experience symptoms of depression, like me, so you shouldn't worry that you are alone if this happens.

Depression is a serious condition that deserves treatment from multiple angles. Both medication and therapy are often effective in treating this illness, either alone or in combination with one another. If you want to get better, don’t hesitate to seek help from your doctor!

Quitting drinking allowed me to better address my underlying health issues. Though I ultimately decided to stop drinking for good, it started just because I wanted to feel better, with no timeline attached.

Therapy changed my life, and it may help you too if you struggle with depression, anxiety, drinking, or any combination of the three.

I didn’t know I would quit drinking when I started therapy, but I knew booze wasn’t helping, and my serious hangxiety after a work trip was what finally got me to schedule the appointment. So I don’t have any firsthand experience of how helpful it is to someone with depression or anxiety who isn’t also dealing with a drinking problem. But I do know that one of the best things about therapy was that it helped me get to the root of my problems and understand how they were connected—and then taught me how to cope with them more effectively.

Therapy can indeed be expensive, especially if your insurance doesn’t cover it. It’s also true that not everyone enjoys talking about their emotions with a stranger, and some people even find therapy distressing or traumatizing.

If you think you might benefit from seeing a therapist but are afraid because you’re worried about cost or stigma, try starting by seeing someone on your own without telling anyone else what you’re doing—that way, no one will know if it doesn’t work out for you. You can also try going to group therapy or community-based therapy, which are often more affordable.

There are also NA, AA, SMART recovery, or /r/stopdrinking, which aren’t the same as therapy but are great places to work on your mental health and find support and community. Lots of these are available virtually 24/7 now, including virtual therapy apps and websites, which make them even more accessible (though not always free).

Acknowledging and understanding the link between alcohol and depression can help us cope with negative feelings in healthier ways and take control of our choices.

If you feel depressed or anxious, it’s important to know that there are many ways to treat these symptoms. It’s also important to understand that some of these treatments may include quitting or cutting back on alcohol consumption, and that doesn’t mean you’re a failure! When we acknowledge the links between depression and drinking, it can help us cope with negative emotions in healthier ways. Just remember: no matter what your problem is or how difficult it seems at first glance, there’s always something we can do about it—even if all we do is try.

I am not a doctor; I’m just a 35-year-old lady who started therapy, quit drinking, and started taking antidepressants and never looked back (much). Nothing in this article should be taken as anything other than a personal story. It is not medical advice. If you relate to anything in this article, I encourage you to reach out to a doctor.

Participating in "Don’t Drink December"? Sober-curious? Recently alcohol-free? Celebrating a sobriety milestone? Check out my latest articles on sobriety here on Medium: