If You’re Not Addressing Your Alcohol Use As Part Of Your Mental Health Regime You’re Probably Hindering Your Progress

I know, bad news bear here.  I’m reading a great book called Girl Walks Out of a Bar. I am on the chapter where she knows that she is having significant issues with alcohol addiction and wakes up crying every morning.  Instead of getting honest with herself about her alcohol use she decides to go to a psychiatrist and tell her about her sadness and onset of depression-leaving the part about the alcohol out.  She says she would rather go on living a life of angst, depression, sadness, and even dying early (if that’s what it cost) than to stop drinking.  

Look, regardless of much alcohol you’re drinking, it has an impact on your mental health. Many of us don’t see the harm as we pop our pills, followed by a couple glasses of wine, and lie to our doctors about how much we drink.  But, it does. Repeated alcohol use can boost your serotonin (feel good chemicals) temporarily, but over time it lowers serotonin in the long term making it harder for you to feel good when you’re not drinking. 

So while it may seem like it’s not hurting anything (and even helping a little) you might be surprised to know how much you are altering your brain.  This is pretty basic information but it’s really hard to find especially in our “Wine Is Self Care” culture.  We are constantly getting contradicting information about how good wine is for your mood.  

Everywhere we turn there is an event popping up telling us to come drink.  I just did a quick scroll through my feed and came up with tons of drinking events-Cocktails and Coats, Parents and Pints, Martinis and Mistletoe,  Yoga and Wine.

Every single event is advertising alcohol.  Why? Mostly because we are group of people who love to drink.  Drinking sells.  But let me be clear, WINE IS NOT SELF CARE.  Waking up with a hangover after a girls night (that was meant to help you relax) will not advance your mental health.

Does this mean you have to stop drinking?  I don’t know.  But I do know that if you are experiencing mental health issues and you have “tried everything” (except not drinking) then you are selling yourself short.  It’s worth doing some research and learning the facts. Sadly,  you might be thinking (much like Lisa thought in her book and much like I thought for a very a long time too)-drinking is the only thing that really makes me feel better.  It’s just not true long term. That’s kind of like saying you’re going out to eat ice cream and cake because you’re on a diet.

My favorite teacher Holly Whitaker once wrote, “If the effects of not drinking were available in a pill, it would be the best selling drug in history.”  Read that again. This is the absolute truth of what I have found in sobriety.  In this culture we all seem to be desperately seeking that “thing” that is going to make us feel better.  We wish for it, pray for it, talk about it, read about it, try different diets, try new workouts, different therapies, conferences, classes, more this, less that……..minus alcohol.  It’s the one thing we don’t touch. That’s because we have been conditioned to believe that if we are not alcoholics then we can and should continue drinking.

Now that I live in this place of being alcohol free it’s so clear to see the negative impact that the most dangerous drug on the market is having on us.  And as much as I try to never judge-when I hear about someone having significant mental health issues, I can’t help but wonder if they just  stopped drinking would their problems dissolve?  In some cases, I am positive that the answer is yes (especially if they heal the condition that got them drinking in the first place).

It’s ok to explore your drinking as part of taking care of yourself. It’s ok to ask questions about how alcohol might be affecting you. I give you permission. That doesn’t mean you have to go to rehab. It doesn’t mean that you are an alcoholic. It doesn’t mean that you have to stop drinking forever. But it might be the missing piece and so I encourage you to do some research. 

I will be here with you confirming the information that you find, nodding my head as you start to realize what’s happening with your brain, holding your hand to get you through those confusing and tough times, and laughing alongside you when you discover how much better you feel just because you stopped drinking.  Trust me, it’s worth addressing.

As always, thank you so very much for reading. Want to get more in depth with these posts for an ongoing conversation? If so, join my private facebook group here. And, if you would like to have my exclusive gift of resources and informaation, get that right here.