Alcohol abuse and depression often result in a destructive cycle. People struggling with depression may start drinking to self-medicate their symptoms. On the other hand, alcohol can severely disrupt brain chemicals resposible for regulating mood, resulting in depression.
Drinking can result in worse depressive episodes over time. Additionally, the worsened depression can further increase excessive drinking behaviors.
Understanding the complex interaction between alcohol use disorder and depression is important for treatment. Because of how these conditions feed into each other, treatment requires addressing both simultaneously.
Depressive Symptoms
Although alcohol may temporarily make you happy, it can drastically affect how your brain regulates emotion. This can eventually cause or worsen mood disorders.
Additionally, alcohol can impair cognitive functions like concentration, decision-making, and impulse control while reducing distress tolerance. This can significantly increase the risk of self-harm or self-destructive tendencies.
If you’re predisposed to alcoholism and depression, you can easily spiral into a destructive cycle that can worsen both conditions. Because of this, integrated treatment or dual diagnosis treatment is essential for addressing these patterns early before they become severe.
Downward Spirals
As mentioned before, the chemical and neural changes caused by severe alcohol abuse can destabilize brain chemistry. This can worsen all depression symptoms, including:
- Profound sadness
- Insomnia
- Concentration problems
- Fatigue
- Suicidal ideation
Additionally, heavy alcohol consumption can intensify cravings, fueling addiction.
Co-Occurring Disorders
Co-occurring disorders refer to mental health conditions that occur alongside substance abuse. Alcohol addiction can also worsen other conditions aside from major depressive disorder, these include:
- Anxiety disorders
- Bipolar disorder
- Schizophrenia
Alcohol’s effects on the brain can intensify your symptoms and increase the likelihood of substance abuse and self-harm. Fortunately, there are addiction treatment programs for people dealing with co-occurring disorders.
Integrated therapy, like dual-diagnosis treatment, provides evidence-based treatment for both conditions simultaneously. Treating only one condition is often ineffective for co-occurring disorders.
Physical, Mental Health, and Addiction
Dealing with alcohol addiction can be difficult due to other mental and physical health consequences. The following conditions can be caused by alcohol addiction and worsen depression:
- Liver disease
- Heart problems
- Stroke
- Cancer
- Early dementia
- Weak immune system increasing the risk of infections
Fortunately, a fully integrated treatment approach can help manage your physical and mental health alongside addiction.
Why Early Sobriety is Dangerous
Alcohol withdrawal can also affect your mood even without pre-existing mental conditions. You’ll also experience alcohol cravings which require medication-assisted treatment alongside therapy.
Because of these side effects, you may be at a high risk of relapse or self-harm during early sobriety. You’ll need comprehensive support to manage the complex psychological changes in your brain.
Integrated Treatment
Integrated treatment for co-occurring disorders works better in the long-term. It helps you manage mental illness and addiction in an effective way. It also helps restore brain activity while teaching coping tools and skills for addiction recovery.
This layered, integrated approach leads to lasting recovery and reduces the likelihood of relapse. It can do this by addressing the destructive cycle of mental illness and addiction.