Alcohol Effects on Mood
Many people associate the negative health effects of alcohol with liver and kidney problems, but unfortunately, alcohol’s damage does not end there. When ingested, alcohol can actually elicit many harmful effects on our mood chemicals called neurotransmitters. Negative impacts on these neurotransmitters will affect our emotions and cognitive abilities. The brain’s neurotransmitters work on a balance between the inhibitory and excitatory effects. They should both be equal to each other in normal circumstances, but with alcohol consumption they become imbalanced, and then overcompensation can occur in the long term. The inhibitory neurotransmitters are responsible for decreasing responsiveness to neurons, causing a sedative effect. The excitatory neurotransmitters are responsible for increasing responsiveness to neurons. It is important to understand the way alcohol effects on mood especially if you deal with current mental health problems.
Here are 3 alcohol effects on mood
1. Short Term Happiness
Contradictory to the introduction, there is evidence to show that life satisfaction or happiness is one of the short-term alcohol effects on mood. A British observational study on over 40,000 participants in total showed that lower life satisfaction was a culprit of drinking problems. Though in those with normal drinking habits, there was no association with poor life satisfaction. Another study found that the strongest predictor of mental well-being after drinking was the motivation for drinking in the first place. This means that if you are in a healthy and stable mental state before you drink, then you are more likely to maintain that after drinking as long as consumption is low or moderate.
Looking further into the mechanisms of this, dopamine, a reward neurotransmitter, plays a large role in the satisfaction of drinking. When dopamine is released after an action occurs, our brain will want to repeat that action so that we can feel rewarded and happy again. Alcohol consumption, even in low doses, is shown to increase these dopamine levels in the brain, which motivates us to drink more and feel good while doing it. The caution is that although at low doses you can reap the benefits of increased socialization and happiness, alcohol at these levels starts to impair brain function and memory.
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2. Depression
On the flip side, depression is another one of the alcohol effects on mood. This effect may be more obvious to people, but let's discuss how it really works. Alcohol can intensify the symptoms of people who have existing depression or alcohol can increase the risk of developing depression. 10 - 15% of the population will struggle with depression at one point in their lifetime. Depression is characterized by extreme sadness, not finding joy in things that you once liked, fatigue, feelings of hopelessness, and thoughts of suicide. Interestingly enough, research has found that females are more likely to have a bidirectional relationship between alcohol and depression showing that they both can indirectly cause the other, while males have more of an independent relationship with depression and alcohol use. A mechanism behind depression caused by alcoholics has to do with the neurotransmitter serotonin which helps us feel good. Studies have found that alcoholics have decreased serotonin transporters in the brain which can explain the feelings of low happiness and therefore depression.
Source: 31649834, NIH, NIH, 28167374, 24959010
3. Anxiety
Anxiety is another one of the alcohol effects on mood. Similar to depression, having an anxiety disorder or alcohol abuse problem can increase the risk for developing the opposing problem. Symptoms of anxiety include feeling fatigued, irritable, muscle tension, feelings of worry, and difficulty falling asleep. Anxiety affects a lot of people, and statistics show that 19% of people overall in the US have had an anxiety disorder within the past year. Serotonin balance is also an important factor for the development of anxiety, and alcohol lowers serotonin levels. GABA is another neurotransmitter that affects this alcohol-anxiety relationship. GABA is one of the inhibitory neurotransmitters meaning that it has sedative effects. In terms of anxiety, GABA operates in the fear part of the brain called the amygdala allowing for control during stressful situations. Alcohol consumption increases GABA production in the brain, which in the short term is okay, but in the long term, this can cause high anxiety when you are sober and have normal GABA levels. Therefore the anxiety you feel while sober due to lower GABA levels will drive you to drink more, and thus, may result in alcohol addiction.
