why does alcohol create feelings of depression and anxiety?

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I’ve seen several pieces of advice saying to avoid alcohol as it contributes to depression and anxiety. I believe it’s true, from experience. Just wondering why it’s true- what mechanisms are impacted by alcohol that contribute to depression and anxiety.

Only request: please don’t say ‘alcohol is a depressant.’ unless explaining how that makes alcohol contribute to depression/ anxiety (depressants are a completely different thing to depression)

In: Chemistry

7 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

a lot of times (well, maybe just *me*), I used alcohol to cope with anxiety and depression. It worked well at first, but then once you get acclimated and it becomes your new “normal” now you need alcohol just to feel normal. When you stop drinking, you feel depression/anxiety, so of course you’ll drink because it gets rid of it. Treating anxiety/depression with alcohol (or any recreational drug for that matter) is just as effective as satiating thirst by drinking salt water. It feels good at first, but in the long term, it’ll make it worse.

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