Alcohol and Depression: How Are They Connected?

Antidepressants are one of the most commonly prescribed psychoactive substances in the U.S. Eleven percent of people ages 12 and older take an antidepressant, amphetamine sulfate oral and it is the third most commonly used prescription drug among all adults. Among the year old age group, it is the number one prescribed drug in use.

Checking alcohol-medication interactions

Also, if you drink alcohol while taking a certain type of antidepressant called an MAOI, your blood pressure could rise dramatically and could even cause a stroke. Finally, sometimes the liver cannot process all of the toxins present when alcohol is combined with antidepressants and fatal toxicity can occur. Fortunately, educating patients about the risks of combining medications with alcohol may help them avoid negative outcomes.

1. Always check the warnings and interactions in the labeling for your antidepressant.
2. If you’re dealing with severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms, such as anxiety, insomnia, nausea, and hallucinations, among others, then your doctor may suggest medications such as chlordiazepoxide or other benzodiazepines.
3. SPCs and PILs need to be strengthened to warn prescribers and patients clearly about the possibility of pathological alcohol intoxication during treatment with SSRIs and related drugs.
4. Or you might attend an intensive inpatient group a few times each week.
5. If a person develops a high fever, heart arrhythmia/irregular heartbeat, seizures or unconsciousness following an emergence of initial symptoms, they should be taken to an emergency room for treatment.

Can You Drink Alcohol Safely While Taking Zoloft?

Alcohol’s sedating properties can also increase disruptions to sleep, which in turn exacerbate mood disorders. At the same time, people with depression may attempt to self-medicate with alcohol. Individuals with mental health conditions may be more likely to use alcohol as a treatment. Several studies suggest that military veterans are more likely to experience depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and misuse alcohol.

Alcohol use impacts not only antidepressants but also depression itself.

And it took years of growing professional responsibility, finally becoming clear in D.C., to start moderating. Returning to Wisconsin offered ways to reconnect with our way of life — from helping my dad, to deepening family ties, to spending time on our land, to writing — but I still fought an urge I didn’t understand. Some antidepressants can cause dizziness, drowsiness and blurred vision, particularly when you first start taking them.

Effects of Alcohol Use

For many health care providers who treat anxiety and depression, the concern about whether it’s safe — or even advised — to drink alcohol while taking an antidepressant is a common one. “Patients tell me all the time, ‘I’m going to be drinking with friends tonight, so I skipped a dose,’” said Dr. Sarah Ramsay Andrews, a psychiatrist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. If you’re ready to seek treatment for alcoholism, American Addiction Centers (AAC) can help. Alcohol.org is a subsidiary of AAC which is a nationwide provider of rehab centers. It can be tempting to drink if you’re feeling unhappy, but there’s a better solution out there.

Cognitive behavioral therapy can also be used to treat co-occurring AUD and MDD, by improving your emotional regulation, changing your cognitive behaviors, and helping you develop personal coping strategies. Alcohol is frequently used to numb uncomfortable emotions and can become a habitual pattern that disrupts the natural balance of neurotransmitters in the brain. Understanding what emotional intelligence looks like and the steps needed to improve it could light a path to a more emotionally adept world. Make your tax-deductible gift and be a part of the cutting-edge research and care that’s changing medicine.

It helps people understand events and thought processes that lead to depression and substance misuse. However, for the best results, your doctor will likely treat them together. In general, it’s not a good idea to consume alcohol while taking antidepressants.

In our practices, we have repeatedly noted that some people experience a marked change in alcohol tolerance during treatment with SSRIs and related drugs. The mechanism is not clear, but the disinhibition from alcohol together with the stimulant effect of most SSRI and related antidepressants might lead to effects not seen with either alone. With this problem in mind, we examine the warnings for patients and prescribers in company information about prescribed SSRIs and related drugs. Combining alcohol with antidepressants could potentially be fatal. Alcohol can cause depression itself and also keeps some antidepressants from working as well as they should.

If a decision is taken to switch you from a particular type to another, the dosage of the first antidepressant will usually be gradually reduced before the second is started. If there are any concerns about 14 ways to cure a headache without medication content we have published, please reach out to us at Once you begin your healing journey, it’s important to engage in self-care. Consider looking into holistic therapies such as yoga or meditation.

What’s more, one can make the other worse in a cycle that’s pervasive and problematic if not addressed and treated. This CME/CE credit opportunity is jointly provided by the Postgraduate Institute for Medicine and NIAAA. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that 9 out of 10 adult binge drinkers medications for alcohol use disorders don’t have a severe alcohol use disorder, but that doesn’t mean alcohol isn’t a problem for them. Drinking to cope with depression, no matter if you have an alcohol use disorder, is concerning. Given the prevalence of both antidepressants and alcohol use, it’s not surprising that the two often collide.

This multi-test approach will help them rule out other conditions that might account for your symptoms. It’s often a lifelong commitment, but one that can improve your life, health, and well-being in the long term. This article is written by Dr. Daniel K. Hall-Flavin and Mayo Clinic Staff.