How to Help Someone with Depression and Alcoholism

The topic of depression and alcoholism had been a subject of debate for many years. In this post, we will better understand the relationship between alcohol and depression. This information will serve as a guide how to help someone with depression and alcoholism.

For long time alcoholic individuals, their dependence on alcohol affects the brain significantly; particularly the toxic effect on their serotonin, one of the brain chemicals or neurotransmitters. Although this does not necessarily is the main cause of depression, the effects of alcohol aggravate the symptoms of depression. These depressive symptoms are increased in terms of severity and frequency with regular alcohol consumption.

The consumption of alcohol can actually make us relax for a short period of time. The euphoric feelings associated with alcohol can soon be substituted with drowsiness, irritability, and impaired coordination. This can also lead to loss of rationality and desire to sleep. These results are very similar with symptoms of the depressive illness.
With regular consumption of alcohol, it can possibly trigger the fast development of depression. To illustrate, 4 out of 10 heavy drinkers of alcohol show symptoms of the depressive illness. In addition, roughly 10% of people with depressive illness manifest symptoms of alcohol problems.

A recent research revealed that people who suffered from alcohol problems both before and after the age of 60 have the highest incidence of the depressive illness. Furthermore, the research suggests that the existence of alcoholism in earlier stage of life leads to further alcohol problems at the later part of life.

New researchers had shed light on the effect of alcohol to our brains. These researches showed that alcohol affects the brain much like how depression affects it. The areas of the brain affected by depression that results to anxiety, poor sleep, low mood, and reduced appetite are almost the same areas affected by alcoholism. This correlation explains the reason behind how alcoholism can cause depression.

Even with this available knowledge between the relationship of alcohol and depression, sufferers still turn to alcohol in an attempt to make themselves forget their problems or to feel more in control of their situation. Alcohol can further upset the brain chemical balances. Thus, excessive alcohol drinking can promote the onset of depression episodes. If you suspect that someone in the family suffers from depression and relies on alcohol to solve his problem, then you need to ask for professional help immediately. Those who are predisposed to depression must abstain from alcohol drinking right away.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Related posts

• No related posts.