Marketing companies spend a lot of time making alcohol look like a lot of fun. Filmmakers, television shows, writers, golfers, high-end resorts, and local bars all do the same. Everyone spends a lot of time and money insisting that alcohol can make you feel better.
If you’ve had a hard day, have a drink, and it’ll all slip away. Is your day boring? No problem. Just crack open a beer, and it’s suddenly the time of your life. Feel like that meal you’re enjoying is missing something? A bottle of wine can help complete that meal.
Alcohol has quite the reputation for livening up the room. Unfortunately, that reputation is a lie you were told so often it sounded like the truth. The reality is alcohol is depressing. Quite literally. It is chemically designed to depress you. Alcohol fills an endless cycle, day in and day out, for countless adults all over the world.
Depression and Alcohol
Alcohol is a depressant. It can have a range of effects on your mental and physical health. Although it is legal and readily available, understanding the potential consequences of drinking is essential. When you understand the negative impacts of alcohol, especially its place in the cycle of depression, it provides you with the evidence you need to see through the marketing ploys that have put it on a pedestal for centuries.
While alcohol may have a brief stimulant effect when it is first consumed, it has been shown to be immediately followed by a longer-lasting depressant stage. This is the stage that usually holds people’s attention longer.
The feeling of depression makes you crave that initial burst of energy and sense of freedom that came with alcohol. Due to this, you drink more to try to recreate that feeling. As a result, you only end up falling into a deeper depression that gets fueled by more and more alcohol.
The Cycle of Alcohol Abuse
While alcohol causes you to feel depressed, it is also triggering the pleasure centers of your brain. Studies show that this combination makes it a prime candidate for abuse.
Alcohol’s addictive power lies in its ability to be the disease (depression) and pretend to be the cure at the same time. Thus, you may find yourself looking for answers at the bottom of the bottle. However, every time, you are left with only more questions and more bottles.
It’s no wonder that alcohol is such a popular substance of choice for abuse. It appeals to your nature by promising results that it cannot deliver. Only with the help of professionals can you hope to find the answers to your depression or your resulting dependence on alcohol. Luckily, there is help out there. All you have to do is put down the bottle and ask for it.
Drowning your thoughts and feelings in alcohol is more than just a cliche. It’s a real-life problem that can ruin relationships, cost you jobs, and even end your life. There is nothing remarkable about the endless cycle of substance abuse that feeds your depression. The Guest House and our team can provide you with the tools you need to find solutions without alcohol. Our substance abuse and mental health treatment can help you find healing and live a life free from depression. Call us today at (855) 483-7800 for more information.