Why does alcohol make stress and depression “go away” almost instantly but is making it worse in the long run?
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Hey, developing alcoholic here; when you drink to cope you sort of shut down some of your functions and it is easier to be in the moment.
So if you go to a party and drink, it isn’t the alcohol taking away the depression as much as it is giving you the ability to drown it out. Instead of thinking of what is going on in your life, you are in the moment, distracted from your issues.
It will also get you to fall asleep eventually, so less of lying down in bed ridden with anxiety.
What is the problem though, when this becomes your main coping mechanism, a few things start to happen.
* You don’t fix your problems, why would you if you can ignore them!
* You start drinking by yourself, isolating yourself instead of getting the benefits of a social situation and deep bonds with people, which is what actually made you feel better.
* It becomes more difficult to ignore your pain and problems, when you are used to drinking to cope, it stops working and your problems will come right back to the top of your head.
This would be bad enough by itself, but drunk sad still feels more manageable than sober sad, so it is hard to quit. Not to mention dependency will develop into addiction, and alcohol is incredibly unhealthy in the long term. It will hurt your nervous system, your ability to process toxins in your body, and even make you gain weight and maybe skin issues?
If you want to drink away your problems from time to time, and are an adult (super important, drink since young and you’ll have all of the cons with fewer of the benefis) then grab a friend and drink away your issues; forget about them and then cry about them, all good. Just do not make that a habit, do not make that your primary way to deal with issues. Resist that urge, never daydrink, never drink alone, try to keep it to less than once per week especially as you age past your early 20s.
The healthiest amount is 0 drinking, but if you need to, please keep it in check. The problem starts WAY before you realise you have a problem.
If you need to drug yourself to cope and there is no healthier option, prefer weed over alcohol (ideally ingested rather than smoked to avoid lung damage)
I’m going to try to cut back alcohol this coming week, wish me luck.
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