Anyone else get depressed after drinking?

daveyboynire

In recent years this is something that has started happening to me, I'd been off the drink 3 weeks, I caved on Saturday while watching the rugby and had 4/5 pints, Got up yesterday morning, no throbbing head as such but depressed, anxious and irritable and it lasts the entire day.

I know alcohol is a depressant only in the sense it slows the body down not that it makes you depressed but it does make me depressed.

I have come to the decision that unless I want to be depressed I can never drink again because with age its getting worse. I can remember as a young 20 something I never had this problem, its coming with age.

OldMrBrennan83

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daveyboynire

Patww79 wrote: »

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WOW I am glad you said that as I thought it was just me, I'm exactly the same but have never met anyone else who has the same problem. On the rare occasion I do have to go somewhere my stomach churns and I am extremely anxious.

OldMrBrennan83

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jimmyRotator

ah yes, when hangovers equal agoraphobia its time to throw in the towel, one of the many reasons I quit.

UtopianWarlord

Something to do with GABA system I'd say. You're getting a rebound affect caused by the effects alcohol has on it. Other drugs that target the GABA system all seem to have problems with anxiety, depression, panic attacks and similar when withdrawing from them and stopping use, some potentially dangerous

FTA69

I was only thinking about posting such a thing today actually. It's something that's really starting to have an effect on the way I look at drink.

I love to drink. It's not about the booze per se (or maybe it is, I don't know) but the act of going out, having the craic and getting lashed. When I'm out I'm actually having a ball. I can converse away grand and also end up in situations where I can encounter the opposite sex *ahem*. No problems there. The problem is the sheer quantity that I put away. Last weekend I was back in Ireland and went out at 3pm and was pinting solid until 5am. On a good day I will put away between 13 and 18 pints at least.

While I do tend to get sick after the above I am finding that by far and away the worst effects is that of depression and anxiety. The feeling of impending doom and the feeling that my world is crashing around me. This can sometimes last for two days, more if I end up doing two sessions in a row like I did last weekend. I am prone to anxiety anyway and I find that after a heavy session I just feel really, really down. Is it something that comes with age because I only started getting it around the age of 24.

risteard7

FTA69 wrote: »

I was only thinking about posting such a thing today actually. It's something that's really starting to have an effect on the way I look at drink.

I love to drink. It's not about the booze per se (or maybe it is, I don't know) but the act of going out, having the craic and getting lashed. When I'm out I'm actually having a ball. I can converse away grand and also end up in situations where I can encounter the opposite sex *ahem*. No problems there. The problem is the sheer quantity that I put away. Last weekend I was back in Ireland and went out at 3pm and was pinting solid until 5am. On a good day I will put away between 13 and 18 pints at least.

While I do tend to get sick after the above I am finding that by far and away the worst effects is that of depression and anxiety. The feeling of impending doom and the feeling that my world is crashing around me. This can sometimes last for two days, more if I end up doing two sessions in a row like I did last weekend. I am prone to anxiety anyway and I find that after a heavy session I just feel really, really down. Is it something that comes with age because I only started getting it around the age of 24.

I am in the exact same position 2-3 day session followed be 3-4 day hangover of Anxiety and depression. My problem is I can't go out at 8 o'clock it has to be all day drinking!! I need to come up with plan or give it up altogether

Nicoleye

Crazy that i am seeing this here, going through the same thing and am currently deciding whether to throw in the towel myself!
Hangover days have become full on pyjama sofa days and I don;t leave the house for the whole day...

Great seeing I'm not the only one here.

Lauzzy22

It takes me a week to recover after a night of drinking! I always get flashbacks and do be depressed and worrying over nothin! If I do somethin stupid my mind over thinks it all and I'm in my 20's and should be just having fun not able anymore!! I think people who are anxious shouldn't drink they say that alcohol triggers it! Glad to see I'm not the only one! :-) I nearly packed off to oz after my last night of drinkin the next day got so depressed about my life and now I'm happy again!! Mad what it can do ha

zuhuraswa

I'm also quite relieved to see that I am not the only one. I suffered from depression years ago after my mum passed, so I know feeling.
Nowadays just after a night of drinking, I feel depressed all the next day. Then it goes way. I didn't even think it was alcohol related despite it only happening after a night of drinking....food for thought there!

wildefalcon

Likewise - even small amounts suck the fun out of the next day. It's getting harder and harder to drink.

dharn

Alcohol is very closely associated with depression, probably the cause of half the suicides in this country

IrishSkyBoxer

alcohol is the thief that keeps on thieving. Sucks the soul out of you, destroys you mentally and physically. nearly 13 months clean and never felt better. the booze blues were some of the worst emotions I have ever experienced.

hawkwind23

UtopianWarlord wrote: »

Something to do with GABA system I'd say. You're getting a rebound affect caused by the effects alcohol has on it. Other drugs that target the GABA system all seem to have problems with anxiety, depression, panic attacks and similar when withdrawing from them and stopping use, some potentially dangerous

im not sure this is entirely true.
many drugs that target the gaba system are in fact used for treatment for alcoholism

I have little doubt alcohol can cause depression - or at least the same symptoms of it. Just because the symptoms match does not mean the diagnosis matches of course.

But whenever I hear someone use the phrase "the fear" and I ask them to unpack what they actually mean by that - the answers I have been given thus far have been indistiguishable to me from what I know about the symptoms of depression.

Regardless - if the effects of alcohol are having _any_ progressively more detrimental effect as time goes on - it is reason enough to stop partaking in it. Be that depression or anything else. Your constitution is telling you "no more" - and you have to but listen.

yawhat!

This basically sums the fear up.

souls

^^^^ Imagine that 24/7... 7 days a week.. whilst holding down a full time job and raising a child!!
Wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy!Yet i kept doing it!

Im nearly 4 months off the stuff.. physically looking miles better BUT mentally still feel ****ed! i suspect I've done permanent irreversible damage to my brain..

the_syco

souls wrote: »

Im nearly 4 months off the stuff.. physically looking miles better BUT mentally still feel ****ed! i suspect I've done permanent irreversible damage to my brain..

You possibly need another form of an outlet? If you drank to relieve the stress, the stress is still there as you stopped the drinking? Perhaps join either the gym, or go for a walk/run during the "pub time"?

=-=

I like drinking, but found out during a time when I couldn't drink, that not drinking meant i could drive into a gig, watch the gig, and then either drive home, or drive to a mates and maybe have a drink there, or just a cup of tea. Don't drink anywhere as close as I once did, bar the odd work night out.

Never had the fear, although have suffered my fair share of hungover days serving popcorn to customers!

souls

the_syco wrote: »

You possibly need another form of an outlet? If you drank to relieve the stress, the stress is still there as you stopped the drinking? Perhaps join either the gym, or go for a walk/run during the "pub time"?

=-=

I like drinking, but found out during a time when I couldn't drink, that not drinking meant i could drive into a gig, watch the gig, and then either drive home, or drive to a mates and maybe have a drink there, or just a cup of tea. Don't drink anywhere as close as I once did, bar the odd work night out.

Never had the fear, although have suffered my fair share of hungover days serving popcorn to customers!

Oh i have "filled the void" as it were with regular exercise check through my posts, i don't see it as a void now of course, but as a totally new enjoyable life.. i do however feel my brain taking what feels like a lifetime executing simple tasks, also my memory has deteriorated to a worrying degree..

the_syco

souls wrote: »

Oh i have "filled the void" as it were with regular exercise check through my posts, i don't see it as a void now of course, but as a totally new enjoyable life.. i do however feel my brain taking what feels like a lifetime executing simple tasks, also my memory has deteriorated to a worrying degree..

Yeah, long term drinking can sometimes affect your memory. Best off talking to your doc, and seeing if it's age related, or not. Also consider doing some crossword puzzles (like any other muscle, it's good to exercise it).

driftkingire

dont underestimate the effects of alcohol on your mood!!! my friends neighbor told him a few years ago that he doe's get depressed and anxious the next day after a session out drinking and a few months ago he commited suicide after being out drinking the night before. now he may have had some other psycological issues anyway i dont know but my friend and i are convinced the drink played a large part in his suicide. if you get depressed and anxious after a night out drinking for gods sake dont sit at home and let it get to you!!!! get out and go visit a friend or go do something and drink plenty of water too as alcohol is supposed to dehydrate you and make you feel ####.

mickydoomsux

Isn't there a study that was done a few years ago that showed that alcohol was involved in more than half the suicides in Ireland?

Didn't really surprise me at the time

FloatingVoter

mickydoomsux wrote: »

Isn't there a study that was done a few years ago that showed that alcohol was involved in more than half the suicides in Ireland?

Didn't really surprise me at the time

I'd be dubious about the level of involvement. Certainly someone planning on killing themselves might well down a bottle of scotch or a handful of pills. It doesn't really prove that they're the root cause of the final decision. But they will be found at the scene.

driftkingire

alcohol is a depressive drug. ive read that on many medical websites. so it stands to reason that it could in the very least play at least some small part in pushing someone over the edge. i agree that it might not be the root cause but i suspect it plays a part in at least some peoples depressive episodes.

valeriehogan

as I always say, its not the beers fault,beer is beer, its all do with whom u drink with. theres heaps of bad peoplein my town , that want to get a nice person drunk, go on have a drink buying heaps of drink, with sayings like sure look u should relax have another drink, **** it, uonly llive once , getting ya to trust them, ya end up coviding in them, handing over your problems and then they tell ya , look have another drink , u be ok, or get ya wasted by leading ya in to a false sense of security, keep buying ya more drink end up making a complete fool of urself, then put out heaps of rumours ur this that and the other, ur so drunk ya cant even defend yourself, in recalling olanything, nexthing ya know u got a bad name.in the town, with no one wanting to no you, u cant change the fact theres bad people out there , there will always be bad people outthere , as well as the good.people , drink opens the door to the unknown world. the unknown can access in to your world ,a person is most vunerable when I ablackout, any evilspirit can posses the mind, when allowed in from the unknow world. it can control ur mind to jump of bridges, for example cut yourself, humiliate oneself., speak foully, intend to cause harm , all ina blackout, completely oblivious to that same person. leading the person to end up , in hospital,.the graveyard or jail. what u r experiencing is very early stages of brain rot, keep drinking with age u end up gettimg fits , doing stuff out of charactor, do urself a favour, dont put alcohol in to ur body. remember what I told u, just because your friends do it, dosent mean u got to do it. if u dont drink , dont let anyone slag u off, for not drinking , always stand up to them. u will be more of aman, always protect the nice person from the bad drink pushers, ask urself, how did u get drinking in the first place, I rest my case, listen to urself fi.d out what it is u really want in life and go get it, that way uwont ever be depressesd again..

Day Lewin

Not me, but I do know one young lad who has reported this ever since he began drinking alcohol at about the age of 18
He claimed, and still claims, that it makes him anxious, and depressed, slowed-down, next day.

We do know that the stuff has an effect on mood - after all that is WHY we drink it!! And it is not always a good effect, can vary from person to person

For me, it usually IS good - it makes me cheerier, lighter - (one reason why a depressed person might use alcohol, and you can easily see the risk of addiction right there)

Best solution is simple, don't drink alcohol. After all if your friends and social life are so boring that you can't enjoy them unless lit-up with a psycho-active substance, how sad are you? [don't answer that...] - get some new, nicer friends!

tealcottage

The days after a heavy binge were very depressing. Sometimes three days. These were the days I fell out with lots of people. Just have no tolerance for any sort of hassle.

K4t

It wasn't the alcohol itself for me but rather the blackouts which resulted from being unable to control my intake. Waking up after a night out on the town or wherever and not being able to remember a thing is the scariest feeling imaginable. Paranoia sets in, panic and fear consume your whole body. Nothing seems real, anything could and possibly did happen. It's two weeks, one if you're lucky, before you get back to reality. The paranoia always remains somewhere inside of you. I lived 5 years like this from 18 to 23. I achieved nothing in those years and lost nearly everything. Sober now and it seems like a different life, someone elses.

FairytaleGirl

Another one here! I wonder if it's something to do with how youre made up? I'm 26 now and drink only a few times a year, 4 drinks maximum - purely because of the absolute terror I go through after a heavy night.
The only way I can describe it to my friends is someone having a gun to my head all day. Literally terrified.
It's in no way worth it for me, luckily I know my limits - but excessive drink absolutely affects my mental health, and I have no doubts people who have underlying stress/sadness/whatever can be pushed to thinking there's no way out when the alcohol is on board, and go on to commit suicide.
The effects of hardcore drinking are yet to be seen in this country, but give it another 20yrs ... The binge drinkers are ticking timebombs!

Ger8

Dreading the Monday blues after reading all them quotes. But I agree with everyone. Drink has gotten stronger has to be it.

LeonardNelson

Reason why someone get depress is because regular drinking lowers the levels of serotonin in your brain,it is a chemical that helps to regulate your mood.

valeriehogan

ya that and all the drink adds on tv, bill boards, all the drunk people walking around,driving around, all sport sponsering , gives young people wrong message, that its great to drink ,i seen a guiness bill board yesterday, and a message about someplace that was a beautiful coastline, with a town, i cant rem what it said, something like now in your town too, why r we as a nation promoting herselfs, tourism, our sports, st,patricks day, etc. as a nation off pissheads.. to teach yougsters its fantastic to get blotto, u be a real man, and girls that u wont know what your at, then every1 say horrible things about u, that ur thid that and the other, when u get in to trouble because of drink.etc.thats what they shkuld write on the adds. but they wont because. the drink indudtry is making millions screwing us over trying to get us drunk. but i wont be falling there evil ways. plenty of great thingd to do in ireland,besides drink, like wake up happy, have money in ur pocket, be able to eat, drive enjoy outdoor activies safer, and not stuck in doors drinnking in pubs meeting mindless drunken fools,pisding there money away .fights outside no way .
stay cool yal u hear

Drinkisacurse

Was off the drink for 1 year up until 2 weeks ago where I done a 2 day bender and fcuk me my head was in a bad bad place. Anxiety threw the roof! Guarantee ya you'll never see me at it again!