Drinking makes me feel happier and enjoy being alive

[The_Artist]

Is anyone like me?

[Quercus]

Hi The Artist and welcome to the forums.

Does drinking make me feel happy and alive? In a word... Yes. So I choose not to drink.

Ok I am on meds which don't mix well with alcohol and that has helped. But I know within myself that my coping mechanisms aren't always healthy. Still struggling to give up binge eating but that is a long term work in progress.

Treatment and medication has helped me a lot. At my worst the drug interactions helped me to not reach for booze to feel good. I have enough issues without adding an alcohol addiction.

Do you have any other things that you could try that make you feel happy and alive?

If you can't think of anything it is probably time to make a long appointment with your GP to talk openly about what is happening with you.

Hope you stick around the forums.

Nat

[geoff]

Hello The Artist, yes there are people who feel the same, however, sometimes people need to drink to numb their feelings, while others become addicted to it.

These may not include you as the title says it makes you happy and to be alive.

Would really like to hear back from you.

Geoff.

[therising]

Hi The Artist

Must say, interesting topic! I wish to thank you for getting my curious brain working a bit more, with you leading me to research the impact of alcohol.

Okay, so, apparently alcohol (ethanol) brings on a release of endorphins in certain parts of the brain, which of course explains the pleasure side of things but it does have what is known as a 'biphasic' effect. Once we reach a certain level of intoxication, alcohol begins to suppress important activity in certain parts of the brain (responsible for memory, coordination, self-control, mood etc). As Nat touched on, meds don't mix well with alcohol. It becomes about mixing one lot of chemistry with another.

Personally, I drank a fair bit throughout my years in depression, so I could feel 'happy' and escape the dark thoughts but I often reached that tipping point of intoxication, which amplified my depression. The brain is a seriously weird thing TA; when I initially came out of 15 year battle with depression, not only did the alcohol dependency abruptly cease but I couldn't even stand the smell of booze. If someone else was drinking, the smell would make me feel quite unwell. The brain is truly bizarre!

At the end of the day, it pretty much comes down to a search for the most effective chemistry for that thing up there in our head. Seeing the chemistry in depression is pretty complex, definitely give some thought to seeing a professional who understands how it works. It's always good to do a bit of research yourself. Knowing how we tick can be an empowering thing.

Take care TA

[Dennis_H]

As for me, drinking cannot constantly bring joy and pleasure, because alcohol brings very strong harm to the body.

[geoff]

Hello Dennis_H, alcohol can have different affects on anybody and they aren't necessarily the same for each person.

It can certainly do harm to the body, but for some people the addiction is too strong so they don't particularly care, while others want to celebrate some type of success, but as soon as they may have a hang-over then they would certainly agree with you.

Geoff.

Life Member.

[Dennis_H]

It seems to me that all people who are addicted to alcohol justify themselves in this way. But as for me, alcoholism is a common weakness. I have a friend who often drank alcohol and he could not give up this addiction. When he realized that he could not overcome this addiction on his own, he asked for help. He was lucky and he came across the site "what is intervention" and then called. It was only after he completed this course that he managed to stop drinking. So do not justify alcohol addiction, it needs to be treated.