It can be like this even when you are 18
this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2024
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Seems like you're already figured this out, but that doesn't really mean anything. People start drinking alcohol (a depressant) because they're depressed.
Signed, a previously anxious pothead.
I don't think a substance being a depressant necessarily says anything about its effect on actual depression, but otherwise I agree with your sentiment.
What do you mean... It's literally how it works? Alcohol suppresses your neurotransmitters from firing at a regular rate. Thus causing depression. How it effects your gaba receptors I believe is what causes the i-can-do-anything happy effect.
For me if I stay drinking I keep the energy and false happiness but that wears off faster than the affect it has on neurotransmitters.
I'm more normal and function when I drink and it gives me energy because usually my anxiety or BPD is so draining I assume. I pass as a normal person lol. But shortly after stopping the depression is felt.
...iirc... Just what I gathered from psychology class and personal life.
No, you’re conflating two different concepts that share the term. Alcohol directly causes central nervous system depression, which is distinct from depressive disorder (aka depression) - the neurological condition. Regular alcohol use/abuse can lead to depressive disorder, but in an indirect way. CNS depressants (alcohol) actually increase GABA neurotransmitter activity, which slows brain activity. This effect on your nervous system has no known direct link to depressive disorder.
I'm not aware of the supression of neurotransmission directly resulting in depression. I know alcohol does worsen depression, but I don't think that's a result of it being a depressant.
Here's an article that seems to agree with me.