Doubter

Do many people here have underlying mental issues or were you just drinking for fun?

ScottFromWI

A lot of people have underlying issues, but why they drank is really not all that important. Recognizing that you are an alcoholic and seeking a solution is far more important.

Treating any underlying condition has a much greater chance of success while sober though, because most of the meds and therapies available are not nearly as effective with alcohol in the mix.

Poppy79

No mental health issues for me, I liked to party it up in my younger years, I was shy and alcohol gave me liquid confidence.
As the years went by though, I kept drinking because I have an addictive personality and my mental health suffered immensely because of this.
Now that I have stopped drinking, life is great 99% of the time.

Maudcat

My sense is, and this is my opinion only, is that some people drink because they are anxious, and some because they are socially inept. Some people drink because it chills them out.
There are lots of reasons why people drink. For my part, drinking too much kind of snuck up on me. I was a social drinker for years, then I had a series of tough, tough workplace years. I was working hard and a lot of hours. Drinking helped me to relax and de stress fast. That led to drinking way too much.
I tried, unsuccessfully, to moderate. Eventually, ir became simpler just to stop altogether.

Forward12

It is common for those with mental health issues to also be alcoholics. I was one of them with pretty severe depression, anxiety and social anxiety. Alcohol was like a miracle cure for my issues, until it wasn't. Before I knew it full blown alcoholism set in.

Gottalife

I am not sure if this applies to other mental problems, but there was a study I read here that showed alcoholism often causes depression, but depression does not cause alcoholism. Naturally they stated more research is needed.

I don't know if this would come under mental illness either, but there is often a lot of dysfunction in families where alcoholism is present. Parents emotionally unavailable, living in fear, living with dishonesty and denial, a whole range of behaviours that pretty much cripple an individual, even non alcoholic partners. And booze does not have to be present for the dysfunction to be there. Hence, just stopping drinking is not always enough.

Usually, to stay sober long term, ways have to be found to deal with dysfunctional behaviour. A whole new set of attitudes and ideals have to take effect. Not easy.

D122y

Doubt,

I have never been diagnosed, but I doubt that my mental health is textbook perfect.

Drinking since I was 5 years old probably didn't help me learn to cope normally.

I don't lash out or talk to myself in public, but I do obsess routinely.

Drinking, imo def. enhances any mental health issues we have. Folks say it makes them calm etc. While it might initially do that, eventually it reeks havoc on our mind.

Thanks.

soberlicious

I would go a step further and say that problems absolutely cannot be treated or resolved in any manner when drinking. In my experience, psychiatrists won't even treat for mental illness if a person is addicted to alcohol or other drugs. They can't possibly know what the baseline behavior is for a person who is addicted.