There is a significant difference between “feeling depressed” and experiencing a depressive disorder. While these experiences are very human and common, they are not an honest representation of what depression truly is. The more you drink the greater your tolerance for alcohol, meaning you need to drink more alcohol to get the same feeling. If you rely on alcohol to mask feelings of depression, you may find you become reliant on it – putting you at risk of alcohol dependence.
Treatment for Co-Occurring Depression and Alcohol Use Disorder
There are lots of choices when it comes to medication that treats depression, and there are drugs that lower alcohol cravings and counter the desire to drink heavily. You can also get help from Alcoholics Anonymous or an alcohol treatment center in your area. For example, a person with frequent episodes of severe depression may turn to drinking to self-medicate.
“The next day, I always felt horrible.”
- At a 6-month follow-up, patients in the motivational-intervention condition reported a significantly greater reduction in weekly alcohol consumption compared with the psychoeducational group.
- Find out how you can get support if you’re finding things difficult.
- Children who were abused or raised in poverty appear to be more likely to get both conditions.
- This involves working with a trained therapist to overcome depression.
Around age 22, Tietz started drinking alcohol — and by the end of that year, she drank alcohol every day. By the time she reached age 25, she could barely get out of bed in the morning due to her depression. But she still felt that drinking helped — rather than hurt — her mood. Holistic activities are intended as supplemental support, and not as a direct treatment for depression. However, when combined with therapy and medications, the impact can be quite significant in a short period of time. CBT is one of the most well-known and researched therapies and has an excellent track record for treating depressive symptoms.
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Even among patients whose alcohol use does not rise to the level of an alcohol-use disorder, drinking can have a deleterious effect on depression and depressive symptoms and may dampen the impact of treatment for depression. However, subclinical drinking may not be addressed during the course of psychological or psychiatric treatment for depression. The authors advocate for the routine assessment of alcohol use, beyond questioning to diagnose alcohol abuse or dependence, in psychological and psychiatric settings. There is reason to believe that once identified, heavy alcohol use among depressed patients could be addressed effectively through the use of brief motivationally focused interventions. Motivational interviewing is a collaborative, nonconfrontational approach to addressing a patient’s ambivalence regarding behavior change.
- Drinking alcohol excessively can also get in the way of other activities, your relationships, and your self-esteem, which can further affect your mental health.
- He participated in several treatment programs at his family’s urging, but none of them helped.
About 20 percent of people with social anxiety disorder also suffer from alcohol dependence. When dealing with stressful days or nervous situations, you may be tempted to have a glass of wine or a beer to calm your nerves. However, drinking alcohol, especially heavily and over a long period of time, can actually increase your anxiety. At the time of this article, she manages her depression with therapy and medication. Tietz knows thoughts and feelings of low self-worth are her main trigger to drink, so she’s learned to cope by calling a friend, taking a walk and listening to music, or lifting weights at the gym.
But regularly drinking more alcohol than these guidelines recommend can pose a number of health risks, including depression. Alcohol can affect the areas of your brain that help regulate emotions. You might start drinking in order to forget what’s on your mind, but once the initial boost begins does drinking make your depression worse to wear off, you might end up wallowing in those feelings instead. Doing so causes serious side effects, including dangerously high blood pressure.