If alcohol is a depressant then why do so many depressed people see it as an answer?

Question

If it makes there life worse, why do they do it? Is there a rational reason behind it?

Answer 1

When used properly, i.e. in moderation, alcohol is great. If it´s abused then it can cause untold misery. People  use it as a means of obtaining temporary relief from life´s problems.

Answer 2

It depresses the mood depressing centers more then the mood elevating centers so the net result is euphoric, relaxed, being at ease  feeling.

Answer 3

It is addictive and also an "escape" mechanism.  People who refuse to deal with issues in their life in a "real" manner prefer to add a little "firewater" to the situation to make them feel a bit "bigger" when in reality it is just making them smaller and whole lot less intelligent.  Alcohol does the exact opposite of what everyone thinks it does.  It doesn't show you a "good time", it doesn't "solve your problems" and it "doesn't make you happy".  The only thing it will do is destroy you body, your family and your life.

Peace & Love  :)

Answer 4

Instant gratification. They can use it as an excuse to say what they think or do whatever they like and accuse it all on being drunk. They can also get to forget their worries, be high for however long till reality kicks in. Then the vicious cycle starts.

Answer 5

The reason behind it is this.............it is not an answer it is a way of numbing the pain, temporarily. However, the pain returns when sobriety does.

Answer 6

sometimes they might get addicted..and also at first it seems like a stimulant but then when the hangover comes you feel like sh*t but they like the "high" more than they hate the hangover so they keep drinking

Answer 7

It's not an answer - it's an escape and can be used as an acceptable excuse for speaking the words they lack the courage to speak without it.

Answer 8

Because it isnt a depressant at the time. Drinking blocks out all the bad and only in the long run do you realise it doesn't actually help.

More often than not, depressives just want to forget - whats better than that then drugs or alcohol.

Answer 9

The rational (alcohol dependants mind set) thought, justification is that life is c**p......if you drink for a while life is still c**p but you don't care so much about it, It takes away the pain.

When you drink the pain does not 'go away' but you can somehow collude with yourself that it's ok to feel bad about things.....a little peace of mind for a while.

We all know that alcohol is not the answer but in many cases it's the only form of 'theraphy/help' some people will get

Don't judge too harshly until you have walked in their shoes!

Answer 10

It's not THAT kind of depressant.

When they say "depressant", it means it has a depressive effect on your bodily systems, your heart, brain, lungs, etc are slowed.

It's NOT the emotional depression.

Answer 11

My work in psychiatry and Primary Care has often leads me to question why this should be the case. I suspect that people with an anxiety-depression syndrome may have a stronger degree of social phobia than the rest of the population. The short term positive anxiolytic impact is for a few hours, but the depressant impact of alcoholism lasts for days or weeks. Some people's alcoholism improves on treatments for depression(drug or CBT). Other people have some kind of Damascus road enlightenment and see that the alcohol is a false friend and unhelpful in depression in the longer term and voluntarily stop it!

Answer 12

because it's a broad spectrum effect, it depresses the depressed part of the brain at first, just like it depresses your inhibitions.