Alcohol and Stress, Chicken and the Egg?
It’s July! And July is the month to go dry! Part of the reason is actually to raise funds for cancer which has become a forgotten fact. You can access more info on the details here https://www.dryjuly.com/about
During covid we saw alcohol consumption soar as we underwent the stress of lockdowns, fear, mandatory vaccinations and health scares for ourselves and our families. It was crazy and so was our alcohol consumption.
We know that stress is what drives many of us to drink. It’s culturally embedded in us to reach for a beer, glass of wine or a shot of something stringer when we’ve had a tough day. Beer o’clock, Mummy Wino’clock, afterwork drinks…all euphemisms for dulling the pain of the day and using a substance to relax after a stressful time. Or during a stressful time. We often do it without thinking. I know I did. And it was then I realised I had a problem!
Let’s take a look at how stress and alcohol consumption drive each other.
Stress raises cortisol but so does long term alcohol consumption. You can see the additive effect right there. The more stressed you are the more you crave the escape alcohol gives you. Only you build a tolerance so the more you drink the more you need. It’s a slippery slope but understanding it is the first step.
Alcohol depletes nutrients essential to the nervous system. These include B12, zinc, calcium and magnesium which are all necessary nervous system nutrients. Crazy to think that we drink to ‘relax’ and ‘calm down’ after a rough day but what we’re actually doing is depleting our bodies of nutrients that will do those very things long term.
Alcohol interrupts sleep. An alcohol induced sleep is not a restful sleep which is why you wake up tired. And what about the ‘red wines’? You know, those 3am wake ups that you get. That’s their colloquial name and for good reason! Even if you aren’t waking up your REM sleep, that is essential to feel rested, is interrupted. And as a bonus lack of sleep also increases cortisol. That’s starting to be a pretty big snowball already!
Alcohol increases weight and heavier people often have higher cortisol (that’s a blog for another day). Yes, the mixers are an issue, but any alcohol requires the liver to metabolise it and while the liver does that it puts the metabolism of everything else to the back burner and that often means laying down fat tissue as the easy option.
And lastly, the hang-xiety that follows an alcohol binge can be crippling raising cortisol levels even further. You might feel great socialising that night. Alcohol is a wonderful social lubricant. But the next day we remember all the things we said and did, the calls we made, the texts or posts we hit send on…and we reach for more alcohol to dull the pain OR swear off alcohol only to hit a rough patch and head straight back to our habitual helper- alcohol.
Oh, it sounds like all doom and gloom doesn’t it? It’s really not, and you can make a break. How much of a break is up to you but make it an educated decision. Why don’t you try Dry July on? See if you can make the month then reassess your drinking from there. I suggest you don’t plan any binges for August and if all you can think about is your next drink in August I would definitely start to question alcohol dependency and seek further help.
If it makes you feel any better, I’ve been there, and the turning point was my mental health. I realised why I was using alcohol and that if life was so stressful I needed to drink then I needed to so something about my life as the alcohol was simply feeding the stress. It bought a moment of peace but in return created the very problem I thought it was solving. Sneaky little bugger!
I’m not pretending giving up alcohol is easy. For some of you it will be but for many you will need extra support, extra help to overcome substance abuse. Here’s a few contacts for you as well as my own to help you physically, mentally and emotionally because alcohol abuse is a complex issue and the more support you have the better your chances of success are.
I can help you physically as well as work with you to clear the emotional blocks that keep you returning to the bottle. You can book appointments with me here https://simply-healing.simplecliniconline.com/diary
It can be helpful to talk about your journey with counsellors and psychologists and I encourage you to look at a multi modal approach if you are struggling. Your providers will work together to help you.
This site has links to many organisations that can help:
https://www.health.gov.au/topics/drugs/drugs-contacts
These offer counselling:
https://adf.org.au/help-support/
https://www.counsellingonline.org.au/
Whatever you chose you are not alone! There is help available and you can move forward from alcohol.