It’s not uncommon to turn to alcohol to cope with trauma, mental health struggles, and plain old stress. All around us, cultural messages perpetuate the myth that alcohol can soothe and heal our psychic ills. Just turn on a TV sitcom and you may see your favorite character at the bar after a breakup or losing a job—ordering drink after drink to self-medicate and comically drown out the pain.
But when we take a closer look at alcohol’s effects on the brain, such humor falls flat—and the myth that alcohol can heal us is quickly debunked. While alcohol and mental health issues like depression and anxiety can go hand in hand, they can also exacerbate each other, creating a downward spiral. If you’re struggling in this area, know that you are not alone. Understanding how alcohol affects mental health is an important step forward.
This Is Your Brain (and Mood) on Alcohol
Whether it’s a onetime drinking binge or many occasions of drinking over time, alcohol interferes with the brain’s neural and communication pathways, impacting the way the brain functions. The science is clear that these changes can affect areas that control mood, behavior, and decision-making.
Initially, alcohol seems to ease anxiety and sadness—yet over time it can make these emotional states worse. After all, alcohol is a depressant, meaning that it slows down the activity of your brain and central nervous system. This can feel good at first, with reduced inhibition, greater relaxation, and the euphoric effects of dopamine released in the brain.
Yet these feel-good effects are short lived. While alcohol may temporarily mask difficult feelings, its long-term effects can include emotional numbness, irritability, worsened anxiety/depression, and memory problems.
When Drinking and Mental Health Collide
Many people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) also live with a common mental health disorder such as anxiety, depression, or phobia. Research finds that people with common mental disorders are in fact twice as likely to report an AUD. Those with more serious diagnoses such as bipolar disorder, severe PTSD, or schizophrenia also turn to alcohol and other substances in greater numbers than the general population.
Unfortunately, those struggling with both a mental health challenge and an alcohol addiction may find that the two syndromes exacerbate each other. Alcohol can mask or intensify mental health symptoms, and this dual burden can complicate recovery.
If you or someone you love experiences both a mental health issue and alcohol dependency, know that it’s not a personal failure. While AUD, like other forms of addiction, comes with a cultural stigma, it is also an illness and treatment options are available. For people with co-occurring disorders (that is, those who suffer from both AUD and a mental health disorder), integrated treatment from compassionate experts is vitally important.
Hope and Healing: What Recovery Can Look Like
The good news is that when both AUD and mental health concerns are addressed together, outcomes improve. “Integrated treatment” involves a holistic, whole-person approach to recovery that addresses both the alcohol dependency and the mental health disorder in equal measure.
If this sounds daunting, remember that recovery doesn’t mean being perfect. It means having the support and tools to care for your whole self. Medication-assisted treatment, therapy, support groups, and harm-reduction approaches offer various recovery paths and resources that can be tailored to individual needs and preferences.
Aware Recovery Care offers in-home addiction treatment for people living with AUD who may also have co-occurring mental health challenges. With care that is compassionate and nonjudgmental, we offer a team approach of trained professionals—including a care coordinator and client recovery advisor as well as a psychiatric provider and internal psychotherapist, among other specialists.
Learn more about how we treat alcohol dependency so you or a loved one can take that critical first step toward healing.
