Alcohol is a part of everyday life for most people. We consume it for a variety of things, from celebrating to relaxing, socialising with friends to pouring a glass after a bad day at work.
However, we should all understand a little bit more the major impact it can have on people’s mental health. Visit NHS rehab clinics up and down the country and you’ll find many people struggling with addiction, affecting both their physical and mental wellbeing. But why exactly does alcohol have such a big impact on our mental health, particularly if our drinking does border on the heavy side of heavy?
The Biochemical Effects of Alcohol on the Brain
The main impact alcohol has on mental health is due to the way in which it alters our brain’s chemistry. When we drink, it affects the neurotransmitters in our brain that control the likes of mood, behaviour and our thought processes. One way in which this is affected is the disruption of gamma-aminobutyric acid, which produces calming effects.
Alongside this alcohol suppresses glutamate, which can slow down brain function, which may make us feel more relaxed, but it also impairs memory, judgement and decision making.
As the body processes alcohol, the fluctuation in the balance of neurotransmitters can increase irritability, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and heavy drinking can lead to a lasting effect on this.
Short-term Mental Health Impacts of Alcohol
While in the short term we may get that euphoric high or relaxation from alcohol, which often reinforces the idea of drinking to alleviate stress, once those initial effects wear off we’ll often feel a heightened sense of anxiety or depression.
You may have seen this referred to as hangxiety or beer fear, and it sees emotions especially low during hangovers and the day after heavy drinking.
It’s a vicious cycle that can lead to patterns of self-medication and it really drives alcohol dependency, getting people into a situation that’s very difficult to get out of.
Long-term Mental Health Consequences
When alcohol use becomes chronic, the long-term consequences on mental health become more serious. Prolonged exposure to alcohol can alter brain structure and functioning in significant ways. Studies show that chronic drinking can shrink the brain’s grey matter, particularly in regions associated with memory, decision-making, and emotional regulation. This structural change is often associated with cognitive impairments, decreased emotional resilience, and increased susceptibility to mental health disorders.
Moreover, chronic alcohol use can lead to alcohol use disorder (AUD), a condition marked by an inability to control drinking despite its negative impact on one’s life and health. People with AUD are significantly more likely to suffer from co-occurring mental health issues, particularly mood disorders. Depression, in particular, is highly prevalent among individuals with AUD, often creating a challenging cycle where drinking exacerbates depressive symptoms, and depression increases the desire to drink.
Social and Psychological Factors
Alcohol’s impact on mental health is not solely biochemical. Social and psychological factors also play a major role in how alcohol affects individuals mentally. For some, alcohol use is closely tied to social pressures, stress, and feelings of loneliness or inadequacy. These psychological stressors can make individuals more vulnerable to alcohol’s harmful effects on mental health, as drinking becomes a coping mechanism.
Alcohol often exacerbates pre-existing mental health conditions. For instance, individuals with anxiety disorders might initially drink to ease social anxiety or to escape intrusive thoughts. However, alcohol can increase feelings of anxiety once it leaves the system, creating a paradoxical effect where drinking worsens the very condition it was intended to help.
