How Is Alcohol a Depressant? Examining Its Impact

Alcohol and Mood

Without thinking about it, many of us use alcohol to alter our mood, not taking into account how drastically it can alter how we feel. Alcohol is a CNS depressant that affects how we react to situations and has a long-term impact on our moods.

When we take our first drink, dopamine and GABA in our brains cause us to experience pleasure and relaxation.

This improves our mood and reduces anxiety. But this is short term. Even when we stop drinking, a drop in these feel-good chemicals from alcohol leaves us feeling lower and more anxious than before.

Is Alcohol a depressant?

Alcohol depresses the central nervous system. This doesn’t mean that it makes us depressed emotionally but rather that we are less sensitive and able to react when we are drinking. Most people are less sensitive to pain, noise and other stimulus when they drink alcohol.

Depressant vs Stimulant

There are three main types of drugs that have an altering effect on our brain and body.

• Stimulants increase the level of activity in our nervous system.
• Depressants depress our nervous system, making us less reactive to stimuli.
• Hallucinogens mostly impact the brain and its neurotransmitters.

Stimulants make us physically and mentally more active. These can increase performance and keep us awake and active beyond our regular patterns.

Examples of stimulants:

• Caffeine
• Nicotine
• Ritalin
• Cocaine
• Amphetamines

Side effects include heart palpitations, insomnia, anxiety, and addiction. Most stimulants are addictive and risky to your health.

Depressants, on the other hand, dull our senses and slow our heartbeat, breathing and responses.

Is Alcohol a Stimulant or Depressant?

Alcohol is classed as a depressant, but it does have stimulant properties. There are several reactions to alcohol, such as increased heart rate, energy and aggression, that are signs of stimulation. However, unlike the sedative effects, these don’t occur in all people.

One area of alcoholism research is how some people are less impacted by the stimulation of alcohol than others. The same goes for depression of the CNS, and people experience this to different degrees. There is some suggestion that this may alter the likelihood of becoming an alcoholic. People who are less sedated by alcohol and experience more stimulation are deemed more at risk of becoming addicted to drinking.

Depression and Alcohol

The mental health condition depression differs from central nervous system depression in that it is both psychological and physical.

Self-medicating with alcohol is common for people with depression. By boosting dopamine and GABA, alcohol can offer temporary relief from low mood. This gradually becomes less effective, and people need to drink more and more to get the same effect.

On the other side, the brain reacts to frequent drinking by lowering the positive neurotransmitters that improve mood. As a result, people who drink to deal with depression slowly spiral further into mental health problems.

Alcohol and Dopamine

Alcohol stimulates dopamine, the ‘feel good’ brain chemical, both through taste and directly through your brain.

A peak of dopamine occurs when you drink alcohol. This offers such a strong dose that it makes natural dopamine-stimulating experiences such as affection, food, work or recreation less enjoyable by comparison.

We also experience a drop in dopamine after it rises and falls. This means that we are low on this feel-good chemical for a while after we stop drinking.

The craving that comes from this drop is what makes us keen to keep drinking even when we have had too much.

Alcohol and GABA

GABA is the receptor in your brain that makes you feel relaxed and calm. It naturally occurs when you experience something relaxing somewhere, such as a conversation with a friend or sitting down with a favourite hobby.

By acting like GABA, alcohol tricks your body into feeling more relaxed than it is. Your body reacts by lowering natural GABA levels, and this can leave you feeling stressed, anxious and even panicked.

Alcohol and Hormones

Male and female hormones are altered by drinking alcohol. An effect that increases significantly with heavy drinking.

Estrogen levels are increased in women by drinking, and this is the main hormone responsible for low mood in women. It can also lead to mood swings during parts of a woman’s cycle and menopause.

In males, testosterone is lowered by drinking too much over a long period. This can lead to fatigue, sexual complications, loss of muscle mass and low mood. It is also thought to contribute to ‘irritable male syndrome’, a condition that severely impacts men’s mental health and relationships.

Depression and Stopping Drinking

The first few weeks of quitting alcohol can leave you feeling low. If you have used alcohol to self-medicate or ease anxiety or pain, then removing it will lead to a temporary dip.

This might feel like alcohol was helping, but nothing could be further from the truth. Persist for a month with no drinking, and your body will recover, allowing you to feel less down naturally and enjoy life more.

Sources:

Alcohol and Dopamine

Gaetano Di Chiara, M.D.

The irritable male syndrome