Alcohol Awareness Week 2021

Can alcohol affect my mental health?

Alcohol has been described as the ‘UK’s favourite coping mechanism’, and many of us drink to try and manage stress, anxiety, depression or any other mental health problem. This is called ‘self-medicating’.

Although alcohol can help us feel relaxed and give us a brief feeling of happiness, the effects are short-lived and the long-term negative consequences of drinking over a long period of time can be damaging:

• Overuse of alcohol can contribute to the worsening of symptoms of many mental health problems such as low mood and anxiety
• Injuries – more than 1 in 10 visits to A&E departments are because of alcohol-related illnesses
• Violence and antisocial behaviour – each year in England more than 1.2 million violent incidents are linked to alcohol misuse
• Altered perception of reality
• Paranoia
• Impaired judgement
• Cancers
• Severe withdrawal symptoms

If you rely on alcohol to manage your mental health problems, that reliance can itself become a problem. You may well find that your drinking starts to get in the way of other activities and puts a strain on your relationships – both things that can undermine your mental wellbeing.