petals

hi guys, just wondering on your views on which comes first....depression or drinking too much?
i have suffered with both since i was 17 and can't really work out which came first....did depression make me drink too much or do i drink too much because of depression?
looking forward to opinions.x

Dee74

I don't think there's one universal answer for everyone petals.
For me depression came first...then drinking...which was like pouring gasoline on a bonfire..

I know for me to get well I had to deal with both my depression and my alcoholism.

D

Needinghelp82

For me it was the anxiety and depression first.

I was trying to self medicate with alcohol with, obviously, terrible results.

trachemys

^^^What needinghelp said goes for me but, YMMV.

When I quit drinking, my anxiety and depression build up until I go right back to self-medicating. Not this time, though. I went to my doctor, told him the whole sordid story. Got anti-depressants. Tomorrow will be a month without alcohol. No depressions, no anxious climbing the walls moments. Muuuuuch better.

pdoc

It's very much an individualised issue. For me depression came first then the booze followed by drugs. All because I was self medicating.

petals

thanks, i was just wondering cos with me they both came when i was 17... been trying to deal with depression for years... tried all sorts... so now i have decided to quit the wine and give my mental state a fair go at getting better.. i am working on it anyway, i know things wont improve on their own.x

hopeful4

Does it really matter? That sounds silly, but they both have to be treated and both are an evil cycle. Alcohol is a depressant so one is very closely tied to another.

You can do this!!!

Riskota

Everyone is different, each having a unique story to themselves. For me it started with a tramatic childhood event which triggered bipolar and depression and anxiety issues. Which I in turn would self medicate with an addiction such as anorexia, cutting, alcohol, and drugs. BUT how I got there does not really matter, what matters now is realizing and accepting that I have a disease, a spiritual illness, which I must treat daily- if I want to remain sober.