In small doses, alcohol can make you feel quite cheerful for a short while. What alcohol does, though, is depress the body's central nervous system – the system that lets our brain tell our body what to do. That means that alcohol makes us less co-ordinated, more accident-prone, and less aware of danger.
That aspect seems to stem from the fact that alcohol increases activity in the dopamine neurons in the mesolimbic reward pathway, as well as opioid cells that release endorphins. Both produce feelings of joy, pleasure, euphoria, depending on the type of activation. That's why drinking can be so pleasurable.
Popular wisdom holds that our true desires and feelings tend to come to light while we're drunk. Although drinking alcohol can definitely lower your inhibitions, there's no evidence to suggest that alcohol necessarily unlocks any deep-seated feelings or desires. Still, alcohol can change who we are, in some ways.
Booze is a depressant. It provides a brief, artificial high, followed by a long, crushing low: a hollow, empty feeling which makes you crave more of the drug in order to end the misery. Whilst it sounds convenient to be able to open a bottle and suddenly feel better, we have to remember that 'happy' feeling is false.
They know what they're doing -- alcohol just makes them care less about the consequences. Via Healthzone: A new study says that people who commit blunders while under the influence of alcohol know they're doing it; they just don't care.
While alcohol may appear as a short-term solution to restlessness and anxiety often associated with ADHD, heavy consumption can intensify symptoms of ADHD and render some ADHD medications ineffective.
In addition to its other effects, alcohol has a tendency to loosen up inhibitions and relax the person drinking it. For many people, especially in awkward or tense social situations, this can be just what they need to relax and enjoy themselves.
Your Blood Sugar Will Drop
A drop in blood sugar can cause dizziness, confusion, weakness, nervousness, shaking, and numbness. These symptoms can most certainly trigger a bout of anxiety after excessive drinking. You may experience brain fog after drinking which can make it hard to focus and concentrate.
Boredom becomes prompts for an individual's sensation-seeking behavior. Individuals want to enhance their experience and hence use alcoholic beverages at concerts, events, or even dinners. This leads to overindulgence and causes a number of health concerns.
Aside from completely avoiding anxiety-inducing social situations, people with social anxiety disorder report that alcohol use is one of their primary methods of coping. Many researchers attribute this to the Tension Reduction Theory, the belief that alcohol acts as a negative reinforcer to reduce stress and anxiety.
One thing people often miss after they quit drinking is the social lubrication. Many people start drinking in the first place because they have social anxiety and alcohol makes it easier to talk to people they don't know.
Alcohol is a depressant. That is why many people use it to relax. In the case of people afflicted with ADHD, many will use alcohol to calm down the hyperactivity. Alcohol, however, can often have the opposite effect.
There are several theories as to why ADHD increases the risk for substance use: Impulsivity, poor judgment and school troubles that can go along with ADHD may increase the risk for initiating substance use. There could be a genetic link between ADHD and the vulnerability for developing a substance use disorder.
People with emotional dysregulation often experience intense emotional reactions, mood swings, and impulsive outbursts that can negatively affect their professional career and interpersonal relationships, as well as their mental and physical wellbeing.
Methyphobia is the Fear of Alcohol, the fear of getting drunk or the fear of becoming addicted to alcohol. For some people the idea of not being in 'control' can be a major cause of anxiety and this may be the main reason why people develop methyphobia.
But there is evidence that about 12% of people who experience a hangover also experience feelings of anxiety, including overwhelming sensations of dread, nervousness, worry, and regret over what was said and done the night before.
Once you've cut down your drinking (or stopped drinking altogether), keep going like this for a couple of weeks. Most people can expect to see an improvement in their anxiety symptoms in this time as the brain's balance of chemicals and processes start to return to normal and you experience better quality sleep6.
Some people find that Kava can give you almost the same effect as alcohol. It's been said to send your brain those same feelings of relaxation and happiness that you may get after that first cocktail's buzz.
So why is it individuals in recovery, especially newly sober ones, associate sobriety with boredom? Author Chelsey Flood, herself a sober alcoholic, believes it's for a number of reasons: “You are used to being able to change your mood in seconds. Alcohol makes you feel good immediately after you drink it.