It is possible for depression and alcohol addiction to co-exist. Depression can precede alcohol dependence, or vice versa. However, it’s vital to be honest with yourself and healthcare professionals about alcohol – including the facts of what alcohol does to the body and mind, and how much you drink.
- Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant.
- The NHS lists depression as one of the many health risks of alcohol misuse.
- Alcohol is a causal factor in more than 60 medical conditions – including depression.
- Even moderate alcohol consumption is a risk factor for adverse brain outcomes and cognitive decline.
Get alcohol help by contacting Help Me Stop in confidence, messaging us on Live Chat, or calling 0208 191 9191. Book a no-obligation assessment for alcohol treatment.
Alcohol is a depressant
Help Me Stop Online Rehab client, Sarah, describes her experience in this short video. Sarah says, ‘I feel like a different person, mentally. I thought, maybe I’m suffering from depression, but actually, I don’t think I was suffering from depression. I think alcohol is a depressant and I was regularly using it.’
If you’re receiving treatment for depression from a medical professional, but they don’t know (or haven’t asked) about your drinking, then it’s time to get all the facts on the table. Go back to your GP or prescriber – talk openly with them. Contact Help Me Stop in confidence about affordable alcohol help. Ideally, seek out abstinence-based alcohol rehab with safe alcohol detox, if you need it. Only by removing alcohol safely from your system, then being supported with psychological rehab, will you know the true relationship between depression and alcohol use. And if you still need prescription medication for depression beyond your successful alcohol rehab, then your treatment has a much better chance of working effectively.
Rediscovering joy in sobriety
With alcohol cleared from her system, and intensive psychological treatment in our Online Rehab, Sarah describes how she rediscovered her full enthusiasm and zest for life. ‘I would say I have a real sense of joy about life now that I had lost, I think when I was in my early twenties. So I would say, I have a real joy about being alive.’
‘I really enjoy spending time with my children. We have so much more quality time together. We are all just, kind of, together and discovering in a way what this new life is like. I feel like I’ve been given a second chance at a really awesome and thriving life.’
Online Rehab – treatment that works for working parents
Sarah is in the majority of people in the UK, who are suffering with an addiction and also working. Most addiction treatment services aren’t set up to support people with regular commitments, including jobs, businesses or kids. This is why Help Me Stop was founded. Our Online Rehab is the most flexible, affordable, intensive rehab for addiction in the UK. We offer a morning and an evening programme.
Sarah says, ‘The Online Rehab in the evening worked on a practical level well for me, because during the day I could do my full-time work, running my own company, and then I could shut off that and go straight into the programme online. I had hired a babysitter to look after my children in the evenings. Sometimes my husband did it. We worked that out separately. And everybody knew it was really important for me to do, and it was almost like my time for myself, that I was doing something to improve my life, for myself first and then for everybody else. And so, the time was really sacred and respected by everyone around me, which was really helpful, and was the only way really I was able to do it.’
Listen to, watch and read other recovery stories from our Online Rehab clients.
Contact Help Me Stop in confidence, speak to us on Live Chat, or call 0208 191 9191 to discover more about our affordable rehab programmes.
