The vast majority of adults drink some amount of alcohol and moderate drinking usually does not cause many problems.
However, in recent years, societies have become wealthier and at the same time, alcohol has
become cheaper. People start to drink more, and at an earlier age. For every four men, at least one
is drinking more than is medically safe for them. In seven women, there is also at least one that
drinks excessively.
Alcohol, like the many other drugs that influence brain function, acts as a tranquilizer. If you are
drinking alcohol regularly, you find that your present number of drinks has lesser and lesser effect.
In order for you to achieve the effect you want, you tend to drink more. This effect is called the
"tolerance effect" and has a powerful outcome in becoming an alcohol addict.
Alcohol might also lead you to:
- Dementia - Loss of memory, similar to the dementia condition in Alzheimer's disease.
- Psychosis - Drinkers who have been consuming alcohol for a long-time can begin to hear strange voices.
- Dependence - If you stop taking alcohol, you may feel symptoms of withdrawal such as nervousness, shaking,
or even hallucinations.
- Suicide - Forty percent of men who plan and attempt suicide have long histories of alcoholism. Of those
who succeeded in taking their lives, seventy percent have consumed alcohol first before killing themselves.
Alcohol and depression: What is the connection?
Research studies have proven that there is a connection between alcohol and depression. Studies show
that suicide and self-harm, which are common symptoms of depression, are much more frequent in people
that have alcohol problems.
*** If you drink in excess, and often too regularly, you are likely more to be more depressed.
Regular excessive drinking could leave you depressed and tired. There is much evidence showing that alcohol
can actually change your brain chemistry thereby increasing the risk of depression.
Hangovers could create a regular habit of being awakened feeling anxious, jittery, guilty, and ill.
Regular excessive drinking could also make your life very depressing. An alcoholic could
develop poor work, family arguments, poor memory, unreliability and sexual problems.
*** If you take alcohol to relieve problems of depression or anxiety, you become more depressed later.
Alcohol might help you forget your problems in the short term. If you are feeling depressed and therefore lack
energy, it can prove tempting to drink. The problem, however, is when you begin to drink frequently, passing it
off as a sort of medication.
Any benefits of this abusive and excessive drinking habit will soon wear off with drinking alcohol becoming
a part of your routine. Subsequently you need to drink more and more beer or wine or liquor to feel the effect that
you previously had.
Drinking alcohol for depression does not solve your medical problem, rather it will exacerbate it!
NEXT: How Does Depression Affect Physical Health?
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