The Alcohol-Depression Connection: Symptoms, Treatment & More

This CME/CE credit opportunity is jointly provided by the Postgraduate Institute for Medicine and NIAAA. When you drink too much, you’re more likely to make bad decisions or act on impulse. As a result, you could drain your bank account, lose a job, or ruin a relationship. When that happens, you’re more likely to feel depressed, particularly if you have a family history of depression.

There’s also a strong link between serious alcohol use and depression. If you have a mental disorder, like depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, or bipolar disorder, it’s common to have trouble with substances including alcohol. When you have healthy habits in place to cope with unwanted feelings, you’ll probably find it easier to use these strategies to push back against distressing emotions you might experience while drinking. Some people never notice feelings of depression — or any negative effects at all — after who are the most famous alcoholics drinking moderately. Others might begin feeling depressed or anxious after just one drink.

As stated earlier, alcohol consumption stimulates cortisol release; however, in response to either stress or alcohol exposure, the increase in cortisol is lower in people who binge drink or drink heavily than in those who drink moderately. This disruption in alcohol-related cortisol signaling and the need to drive mixing molly and weed the homeostatic HPA axis rhythm back to functional levels may be one component of the enhanced motivation for alcohol in those who drink alcohol at binge and heavy levels. This conceptual model suggests that normalizing the brain and body’s stress and motivational coping responses may reduce risk of hazardous drinking.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

Third, AUD and PTSD have shared risk factors, such as prior depressive symptoms and significant adverse childhood events. Brief tools are available to help non-specialists assess for AUD and screen for common co-occurring mental health conditions. You can determine whether your patient has AUD and its level of severity using a quick alcohol symptom checklist as described in the Core article on screening and assessment.

1. Here, we briefly describe the causes and effects of co-occurrence, the mental health disorders that commonly co-occur with AUD, and the treatment implications for primary care and other healthcare professionals.
2. For healthcare professionals who are not mental health or addiction specialists, the following descriptions aim to increase awareness of signs of co-occurring psychiatric disorders that may require attention and, often, referral to a specialist.
3. Users of psychoactive substances had elevated anger scores compared to non-users, which represents a high risk of relapse.
4. A glass of water and a light snack can help you avoid a bad hangover.

The worldwide coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is a chronic, ongoing stressor. Some studies highlight the impairment caused by alcohol consumption on processing emotional faces. One such study involved a sample of 85 social drinkers who were described as being low or high trait anger based on their responses to the anger expression index of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2) (Eastwood et al., 2020). They first consumed alcohol and were asked to recognize the emotions of different faces on a computer task. Specifically, they exhibited a reduced capacity to detect sadness and fear and a reduced tendency towards seeing happiness. While the study did not support a significant difference between groups high and low in anger, these results support the notion that such impairment in facial recognition may contribute to aggressive responding.

Effects of Stress and Trauma on Brain Pathways and AUD Risk

They completed surveys assessing their endorsement of traditional masculine norms, use of thought suppression, and both trait and alcohol-related aggression. It was found that thought suppression mediated the association between the toughness masculine norm and alcohol-related aggression. Because of the established link between aggression and alcohol, co-treatments have been developed that can also address anger while drinking. Extreme happiness, or euphoria, is another common experience during drinking.

They were directed to engage in a task with the potential to trigger aggressive verbalizations, with those who consumed alcohol showing significantly more such behavior. Identifying those factors that might contribute to heightened anger when consuming alcohol is important for individuals who have anger issues and those who treat them. Increasingly, research offers answers to determine this interaction. Most of these treatments come from the framework of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT is a diverse psychotherapy that focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and behaviors and creating new, helpful patterns of thinking and feeling.

Conditions

This was a massive study of 33,215 individuals with no history of active military combat. An increase in anger after trauma and the use of alcohol to cope with PTSD symptoms were stronger predictors of physically aggressive or violent acts than a lifetime diagnosis of PTSD without anger. Depending on the frequency of your use, you may need to discuss alcohol tapering strategies with your doctor. Heavy drinkers can experience severe and sometimes life threatening symptoms when reducing alcohol intake, so it’s famous fetal alcohol syndrome adults important to have medical support. Previous trauma is also a risk factor for alcohol misuse and depression. Children who have major depression as a child may drink earlier in life, according to one study.

What causes depression and alcohol use disorder?

If you drink regularly to manage depression symptoms, it may have be beneficial to work with a therapist who specializes in treating co-occurring depression and alcohol use. Drinking water may not have a direct impact on feelings of depression, but rehydrating can absolutely help you start feeling better physically. As hangover symptoms begin to subside, the emotional effects may follow. If you already have depression, you might feel even worse, since alcohol can magnify the intensity of your emotions. It’s 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. No matter your drink of choice, alcohol can easily be abused and often is, especially when it’s used to self-medicate.

Studies of twins have shown that the same things that lead to heavy drinking in families also make depression more likely. If you or someone you care about is struggling with depression and alcohol misuse, you may be interested in learning more about how alcohol can play a role in depression and vice versa, as well as the different factors that can affect alcohol, depression, and addiction. If you’re concerned alcohol has become your go-to method of managing negative feelings like depression, there’s no shame in reaching out for support.