There’s a lot of information and references to alcohol being a depressant as it depresses the central nervous system. However, there’s not much info about it from that point on and on some level, it seems the connection to depression as mental health issue, at least based on cheap internet articles, is based on the use of the term ‘depressed’.
I understand why alcohol is not helpful on a practical level, but many imply that it will make you depressed or exacerbate on a physiological level.
Can anyone help explain this better?
Edited for clarity.
In: Biology
You’ve already got your answer on the drug class known as “depressants” and how that term is not related to the mental health condition “depression”. Anyone arguing that connection based solely on that classification is just being obtuse.
HOWEVER, there is absolutely a link between any intoxicating or mind-altering substance and *many* psychiatric conditions, including depression. The nature of this link depends on the drug. For alcohol, I would say the link isn’t usually causal so much as exacerbating; you don’t develop major depressive disorder because you accidentally drank too much, but rather are motivated to consume alcohol for similar reasons that you start to feel depressed. It can then develop into what we call a “maladaptive coping mechanism”: some behavior we use to *try* to cope with our experiences (which is not, contrary to popular belief, inherently bad) that actually results in more problems. Drinking because you are sad may make you feel better for a few hours but will ultimately make you feel worse and does nothing to actually address the underlying issues causing you to feel that way.
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