Alcohol and Mental Health | How Alcohol Affects Your Mind

Are you looking for relief from anxiety, depression, and traumatic memories? While alcohol can seem like an easy answer to ease that discomfort - it's important to remember that this type of coping offers no true comfort in the long term. Alcohol can be a seductive promise, luring us into believing it will temporarily ease our anxieties and depression. However, its soothing effects are only temporary - the way alcohol impacts GABA receptors in the brain actually damages more than it helps in the long run. 

Alcohol might be the first thing that comes to mind for some people when trying to cope with anxiety or depression. However, it's one of the least effective ways as it worsens such conditions due to its effects on our brain chemistry.

With its initial sips, alcohol can deliver a soothing sensation of relief. When alcohol is consumed, the brain responds by releasing GABA - a chemical associated with relaxation. This triggers its opposing force, glutamate, which leads to an uncomfortable sensation – just like being on a seesaw! Over time, excessive drinking can cause people to become trapped in this dependency loop due to it becoming 'second nature' for their brains.

After a long day, do you find yourself reaching for the bottle? There may be more to this craving than simple habit. Research suggests that glutamate levels increase in anticipation of drinking at particular times of the day - due to it being so conditioned by our habits. When using alcohol to deal with depression, anxiety, trauma, or loss, it can become a destructive cycle. Unless appropriately addressed, these feelings of distress may only feel like they can be relieved when drinking takes place.

Drinking may seem like an escape from the struggles of daily life, but it can often revive old pain and activate difficult memories. Even if we try to push these thoughts aside, they resurface when intoxication sets in. Drinking can act as a catalyst for stirring up long-buried memories that are generally kept under wraps out of our mental filter to suppress them.

Engaging in the exact coping mechanisms can make us trapped within our grief and trauma. As if forming a snowball effect, each experience of loss further intensifies this sense of being stuck, which can keep us from progressing into something more positive.