People decide to drink alcohol because they will feel like it is an escape to the pain they are feeling. They self-medicate all of these strong feelings and still wonder why it is they still feel lousy. It is important to know the truth about how alcohol can make you feel worse than you did before so that you can discover healthier methods of treating your depression.
Depressant
You may feel that after a heavy night of drinking, you wake up in the morning feeling sad. The reason why is because alcohol is a depressant that affects the hormones that make you happy like dopamine and serotonin. While you may have felt happy that night of heavy drinking, the effects of these chemicals the next morning will decrease which can make you feel down and depressed.
Anxiety
Drinking alcohol can make your anxiety worse whether you have had it before or not. You may have been using alcohol as a way to cope with your anxiety to relax without realizing that it will only heighten your symptoms. If you have been drinking for a long time, you have a good chance of becoming irritable and anxious after drinking. When alcohol leaves your body, you can end up with anxiety symptoms and panic attacks.
Worsen Negative Emotions
All of those negative emotions that you have kept inside in the past can make an appearance when you drink, hurting the relationships, health, and work that has been of importance in your life. We get frustrated in no longer being able to think clearly. Not only can alcohol worsen depression, but it can cause it as well. When the alcoholic effects wear off, negative effects occur to our brain chemistry.
Negatively Affect Our Sleep
Sleeping is a state of being that we tend to take for granted without realizing that sleep helps us grow and refreshes our bodies. Because alcohol tends to make us sleepy, we end up getting a lower quality sleep compared to when you do not drink. This is because alcohol reduces the Rapid Eye Movement that we get which makes us feel drowsy, low in energy, and harder to concentrate the next day. Drinking is not a useful tool in helping yourself feel better in the long-term but can make your mental health worse. By going into treatment for alcoholism and depression, you can learn to be happy again.
Offering a full range of recovery and mental health services, Detox Center of Colorado offers “Expanded Recovery” to enrich our clients’ lives in mind, body, and spirit. Through evidence-based therapy options and the endless adventure of Colorado, Detox Center of Colorado fosters connection, encouraging clients to get connected to themselves, their peers, their families, and their higher power. With the power of recovery, clients are restored to full health and experience life-changing healing. Call us today for more information: 303-536-5463
