Are antidepressants and alcohol compatible?

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Read in the article:

1. What is alcoholic depression
2. Why is it developing?
3. How long does hangover depression last?
4. Health implications
5. Treatment of alcoholic depression

Drinkers often experience symptoms of depression, which is characterized by loss of strength and discomfort. Some try to cope with the painful condition with the help of a new portion of alcohol. In our article we will tell you how long this condition lasts, as well as why it occurs and how to survive it.

What is alcoholic depression

The following manifestations of depressive states can be distinguished:

• Hangover related. They occur the next day after drinking alcohol and go away on their own after ethanol is eliminated from the body.
• When giving up alcohol. Typical for alcohol addicts. Between 20 and 60 percent of alcoholics experience various forms of depression when trying to quit drinking.

Hormones produced by humans are responsible for our mood, emotions, and feelings. Alcohol affects the production of hormones, reducing their quantity, which causes depression. The human brain knows how to protect itself from harmful substances, directing them to be processed by other organs. But ethanol easily penetrates the barrier, causing detrimental effects on the brain. Alcohol does not help with depression, but on the contrary, it only worsens the condition.

Let's try to figure out why alcohol affects the development of depression:

• psychological dependence on alcohol. For a person who abuses alcoholic beverages for a long time, it is typical to use intoxicating drinks as a sedative or invigorating agent. The addict believes that alcohol will help avoid bad mood and anxiety, but the condition only gets worse.
• With withdrawal syndrome (alcohol withdrawal), a person is physically unable to give up alcohol on his own. In this case, the help of specialists is required. And even after detoxification (cleansing the body of alcohol breakdown products), the addict continues to experience a decadent mood for some time.
• Alcohol intoxication with prolonged use of alcohol negatively affects the brain, disrupting the functioning of certain areas, as well as the sensitivity of receptors. A person's sleep, attention, and memory are disrupted. Over time, this can lead to alcoholic encephalopathy.

The circle closes. A person drinks to relieve a bad or depressed mood, which leads to a worsening of the condition and progression of depression.

After drinking alcohol, performance and well-being improve. Is this alcoholism?

Yuliana, good afternoon. Thanks for the interesting question. Let's define that the permissible dose of alcohol is such a volume of alcohol at which it does not have a pronounced negative effect on your health and does not cause significant consequences. If you care about your health, it is in your best interests to “fit” within the given limits of the permissible dose.

An important point: we are talking about the amount of alcohol per day, but this does not mean that you can calmly drink a little every day, without thinking about the consequences. Even consumed in modest quantities, but regularly, alcohol is harmful, and high frequency creates a habit and, consequently, alcoholism. Drinking frequently—every day, every other day—means walking on the edge of an abyss, no matter how dramatic it may sound. Such walks turn into a routine and seem innocent, but this appearance will not prevent you from one day falling into the pit of alcoholism, and completely unnoticed.

The permissible dose of alcohol for women according to the World Health Organization (WHO) = 20 ml of ethanol per day. Allowable alcohol intake for men (WHO) = 30 ml of ethanol per day.

How to transform this basic value into a specific volume of alcohol? How to determine how much ethanol is in your glass? How do you know how much you can drink of this drink? The only information you need is the strength of the drink. You can calculate the volume of ethanol or the optimal dose of the drink based on the formula:

Volume of ethanol = volume of alcoholic drink (in ml) × alcohol content in this drink (in %) / 100.

For example, your glass contains 250 ml of wine with a strength of 10°. The volume of ethanol = 250 × 10/100, that is, 25 ml - and this is already exceeding the permissible dose.

And on the other hand, let's say you're drinking a martini. The strength of a classic martini is 16°. By simple calculations we find out that 20 ml of ethanol is equivalent to 125 ml of martini, a slightly smaller glass than in the case of wine. The strength of vodka is 40°, so the permissible dose for women will be only 50 ml, for men - 75 ml.

Thus, we found out that the permissible dose of alcohol for men is higher than the dose for women by only 10 ml of ethanol, and this is only 25 ml of vodka or 100 ml of wine - not so much, if you think about it. Are there other reasons why women should stay away from alcohol?

A woman gets drunk faster! Due to its higher body fat content and lower body weight, ethanol affects women faster, causing them to drop out of the drinking “competition” in record time compared to men. Of course, there are exceptions, but they only confirm the rule: a man and a woman who drink the same amount of alcohol will “get to the point” at different times - and the winner in this sprint will be the woman. By the way, the separate permissible doses of alcohol for men and women are based on this difference. In addition, it has been noted that the manifestations of alcohol intoxication in the case of women can be more dramatic: there are deep “blackouts” after a couple of cocktails, poisoning, and severe impairment of coordination of movements. All these factors generally relate to the low tolerance of alcohol by a woman’s body.

Draw your own conclusions, but remember, the road to nowhere starts small!

There are quite a lot of alternatives to alcohol around us. And is such risky behavior justified? You just need to take a closer look and listen to yourself. What else can bring you pleasure? What causes a feeling of indescribable delight, joy, and a surge of strength? These can be different types of leisure, but on a regular basis! The most effective thing is a variety of sports activities, which are superior to drinking alcohol in terms of the level of production of “happiness hormones”. And a surge of strength will be provided to you constantly!

Why is it developing?

What factors influence a bad mood after drinking:

• Amount, strength of alcohol and duration of binge drinking. The longer the binge, the harder it is to get out of it.
• Individual characteristics. With some diseases, the hangover is more severe, which increases the likelihood of alcoholic depression.
• Mental illnesses. If a person suffers from some kind of mental disorder, the effects of alcohol increase.

Both people with mental disorders and women who are susceptible to emotional outbursts are at risk of developing depression.

Why is a hangover embarrassing?

The first thing to say is that if you are very ashamed after drinking, even for no apparent reason, you are far from alcoholism. Most narcology specialists agree that the feeling of guilt or shame experienced after drinking alcohol, or persistent depression after drinking is an argument in favor of a person’s “independence” from the green serpent.

But still, why do even completely adequate people, although they were tipsy yesterday, feel ashamed after drinking?

• Subconscious. The very fact of drinking alcohol is ingrained in our heads as a bad act. And this is completely justified, given the constantly growing number of people suffering from alcoholism. Crimes and accidents committed by people under the influence of alcohol. Broken families, ruined lives. There are a huge number of arguments against it. But many people drink and still remain successful, happy and healthy. It all depends on the quantities and frequency of use. But even such individuals are not immune from self-flagellation. On the contrary, it is sometimes difficult for socially responsible people to get rid of shame after drinking.

• Physiological explanation of why it’s embarrassing to have a hangover. Here you don’t need to go far in search of the truth. Just remember the physical state at the time of a terrible hangover. Initially, a feeling of guilt appears before oneself for bringing oneself to such a state of health. That is, what can be the general mood and attitude towards oneself when the body is so severely poisoned with its own hands? The second aspect: a lack of serotonin, a neurotransmitter hormone that is also responsible for mood. According to some studies, people suffering from depression and low serotonin levels feel more severe hangovers. Oxygen starvation and hypoglycemia impede brain function.

How long does hangover depression last?

Depression during a hangover gradually goes away on its own, but how long it will last depends on many factors. Once alcohol is completely eliminated from the body, the negative consequences will disappear. This usually takes a few days, but sometimes the bad mood persists for weeks or months.

How depression manifests itself in people with alcohol addiction:

• Bad mood
• insomnia or drowsiness
• inhibition of reactions
• depression, apathy, irritability
• the desire to do anything disappears
• self hatred
• decrease in concentration
• loss of appetite
• suicidal thoughts may occur.

Emotional status

There is such a thing as emotional status.
It is different for each person and depends on what kind of activity he is engaged in. Also, the emotional state depends on the concentration in which elements such as neurotransmitters are present in his body. Their task is to transmit impulses to the nervous system. Alcohol contains toxic substances. They can cause deficiency of substances such as neurotransmitters. Due to their lack, a depressive state occurs. In addition, the human body, through ethanol, is saturated with such an aggressive hormone as norepinephrine. Further, when its quantity decreases, a person feels a state of pain, melancholy. Muscle weakness is also present.

Health implications

Despite the fact that depression goes away over time, people at risk may develop the following negative consequences:

• Auto-aggression. A condition in which a person tries to harm himself: scratch, cut, burn himself.
• Suicide. Suicide attempts often occur due to alcoholic depression.

It is important to understand that such manifestations are not typical for healthy people, but for those who have a history of some kind of mental disorder. But in other cases, primary depression can serve as an impetus for the progression of the disease and the development of alcohol dependence.

Statistics

There are statistics that show that alcoholic depression from drinking alcohol is more common in those people who have crossed the age of 35. This happens because their body is oversaturated with exposure to a substance such as ethanol.

Breaking out of binge drinking is considered a complex process. For some people, depression can get to the point where they begin to think about suicide. In addition, severe forms of this condition lead to the fact that a person begins to think that no one needs him, his activities have no meaning.

Treatment of alcoholic depression

To relieve unpleasant symptoms, it is necessary to speed up the process of removing ethanol breakdown products and restore normal hormone levels.

For a healthy person who drinks alcohol periodically, it will be enough to increase the volume of fluid intake and engage in light physical activity: a walk in the park, or engage in a favorite hobby.

In cases where depression develops in people with alcohol dependence, such measures will not help.

Treatment of depression in alcoholics requires not only detoxification and medication to restore hormone function, but also mandatory psychotherapeutic sessions. Psychotherapy helps relieve depression, identify the preconditions for the development of alcohol addiction, and also teaches a person to overcome stressful situations without stimulants.

This kind of depression is more difficult to treat, but a person’s willingness to give up alcohol and the help of specialists allows one to achieve positive results.

If you or your loved one suffers from alcoholic depression, then sign up for a free consultation by calling the AlkoZdrav help center hotline: 8-800-775-32-63 . Specialists will answer your questions, select an effective treatment plan and accompany you throughout the entire program. We guarantee results if all our recommendations are followed.

How lethargy develops in binge alcoholics

In order to provide qualified help to an addict, it is necessary to understand what led to changes in his behavior. Most often, an overly calm and indifferent attitude to what is happening is a consequence of increased serotonin production. If there is a deficiency of this hormone in the body, then a person very quickly becomes dependent on ethanol.

When drinking, the production of norepinephrine and dopamine is also activated. They give energy and allow you to receive positive emotions “from scratch.” If the addict abruptly refuses alcohol, the concentrations of these substances quickly decrease. Then depression, apathy and lethargy develop.

It turns out that speech inhibition after binge drinking, as well as a decrease in general activity, is directly related to hormonal surges. The situation is aggravated by the fact that subjectively the alcoholic does not want to be in a state of depression. He doesn't like feeling like a lifeless robot. Therefore, he prefers to continue drinking.

Over the years, alcohol addicts generally lose the ability to enjoy life without alcoholic beverages. Mental degradation of the individual occurs. To avoid such a terrible scenario, you need to start treatment as soon as possible.