Health - Alcohol and Depression

[apecsok]

Does anybody have any information on how alchohol use affects depression? Everything I can find talks about habitual drinking and I am just reffering to a depression that was not caused by alchohol? will drinking once or twice a month have any consequences?

[FrankenChrist]

Sorry I can't give you a clear yes or no answer. It depends on the person and the state he's in.

In SwiFr's experience, it is possible that he can feel normal mild euphoria (a good buzz) from a few drinks, but after that he can easily get drunk and angry if he was already depressed.
Then, the day after, he could potentially feel down for a good part of the day. He is almost certain that there is too little serotonin left in his brain because of the substance, in this case alcohol, triggered its release the evening before.

On the other hand, in social settings, some loss of inhibitions could prove useful and perhaps it's the social setting that is most beneficiary in the first place.
Temporary relief through alcohol might be a welcome change of state if you're depressed, but it doesn't last. See above.

[apecsok]

swim agrees with that temporary release. swim drank some tonight, but did not realize that he was being potentially irresponsible with his combination of lexapro (ssri) and alchohol. he is still unsure about this combination even though he just took another dose.


any additional info would be appreciated.

[FrankenChrist]

Wait, alcohol with anti-depressants is another story!
It's usually a bad idea since the alcohol can hit you twice as hard if you're on antidepressants. If you still do, please keep to small amounts.

[apecsok]

Swim took first dose of lexapro two nights ago. drank four beers last night and took his second dose while intoxicated. swim experienced no negative side effects, alchohol was potentiated probably but that was it.

[ianzombie]

Alcohol is a depressant, it depresses the central nervous system.
SSRI medication does similar, that is why it is advised you dont drink while on SSRI medications.
The same is said of Kava and SSRI's

Swim takes 20mg of Lexapro daily.
Swim drinks a couple of nights a week, and on the weekends. on a weekend night they might consume 8 pints of beer/cider.
Swim has never had any problems with the interaction. Swim has been on various SSRI meds for 12 years and noticed no differance in tollerance to alcohol after starting them.

[hippie_lain]

In swims experience moderate drinking didnt make him depressed and it helped him relax and not think about things so much. swim enjoyed drinking alot but kept it down to 3 times a month ] but when swim started drinking alot at a time and almost every day he was always depressed and sad. when he blacked out he would get extremely emotional and unstable

as far as the ssri they tended to make swim manic when i would drink, swim would try and wait until he is on the comedown to take the lexapro and aviod taking them with liquer.

[raverbaby1988]

Swim is not normally a depressed person but recently after a night when swim has drunk quite a lot(usually involving lots of vodka) swim feels VERY depressed and can't be bothered to do much. Is this normal? Why is this?

[Panthers007]

Alcohol is a paradoxical drug. At first it acts as a stimulant - then it takes a u-turn and acts as a depressant. Also, when one has been drinking for awhile (sometimes even a short while), stopping will trigger a depression. Many people mistakenly think the cure to this depression is to have another drink. While this masks the depression at first, it then re-bounds with interest. An even greater depression is the result. Some people end up physically dependent on alcohol as a result of attempting to mask this scenario.

The only thing one can really do is to stop the alcohol and ride the (proverbial) tiger. The depressive state will lift. Taking some B-vitamins and a multi-vitamin, eating good food, and getting some rest helps immensely. Tell SWIM to take a sick-day.

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[illume.]

swim has had the same thing happen to him in the past. he got over it by reducing the alcohol intake and frequency.

Originally Posted by Panthers007

stop the alcohol and ride the (proverbial) tiger. The depressive state will lift. Taking some B-vitamins and a multi-vitamin, eating good food, and getting some rest helps immensely. Tell SWIM to take a sick-day.

this is very good advice