Thursday, January 8, 2009

Alcohol and Depression

By Ed Philips

Alcohol is found today in many different settings. Many of our customs and events within our culture today incorporate alcohol at some level. While drinking occasionally in moderation poses very little threat, excessive drinking has increased dramatically over the last few years with drinkers not only drinking more, but starting at younger and younger ages.

What are the affects of alcohol on the brain? Alcohol as well as other drugs such as tranquillizers acts directly on the brain and as we build up a tolerance to alcohol, the effect is reduced. The result is quite obvious as we are forced to drink more to get the same results and we are now on the road to becoming an alcoholic.

Alcohol can also cause;- 1) Dementia - Whereby we loose our memory, similar to Alzheimer's dementia.

2) Psychosis - You can begin to hear voices as you lose contact with reality.

3) Dependence - At this point quitting alcohol has both physical and mental withdrawal symptoms occur from sweating and shaking to nervousness and even hallucinating.

4)Suicide - around 40% of men who have attempted suicide will have had a alcohol dependency related problem. - Almost 70% of suicide victims have done so while drunk.

There is no doubt to the correlation between depression and alcohol. Self affliction and suicide are common behaviors among people who are alcoholics. There is also evidence linking chemical changes within the brain that can effect emotions from consuming alcohol. It is only natural that depression would arise from the problems that drinking can create on family and personal relationships, work performance, and even diminished memory and sexual performance.

Alcohol is only a brief, temporary escape from the world. All of the problems are still there the next day, many times amplified by the added problem of drinking. Alcohol may seem the answer to facing life's issues or to make events seem more fun and even making socialization easier, but this is only the mask that hides the real truth. The real truth is that alcohol will only create more problems for you and that temporary fix will eventually not be enough to escape from the downward spiral of alcoholism.

If you do feel down or depressed, well alcohol does appear to be a good option to help you cope with life, but the real hidden evil is that you will soon become addicted as alcohol becomes like a medication for you. So if you have found yourself falling by the wayside through alcohol then first you must come to terms with your drinking problem, and admit that it exists. If you then want to find the exit to alcoholism then you should have a look at the blog which is provided by stopdrinkingadvice and will help you tremendously.

About the Author:

No comments: