BarefootBlues

Hi there.
This may be in the wrong place.
For those who suffer from anxiety/depression, what do you think started first, alcohol or the mental distress.
I know they say that people with anxiety/depression issues self medicate with alcohol, but how many of you think your drinking caused your mental issues.
And how do you know what came first.
I started experimenting with alcohol when I was 11ish.
So I don't know what could have come first.

Thanks in advance.

MycoolFitz

Well I suffer from anxiety and depression and PTSD as well as being a recovering alcoholic. I think the anxiety came first because I suffered as a kid before I ever drank.I don't really care chicken or egg-wise. Anxiety and alcohol fueled each other and was a near deadly combination. Now I work on my addiction and manage my anxiety with therapy,etc. Alcoholism, however, is still a primary disease. "Primary" refers to the nature of alcoholism as a disease entity in addition to and separate from other pathophysiologic states may be associated with it. It suggests that alcoholism, as an addiction, is not a symptom of an underlying disease state. Even if there is a co-occurring disorder. So one can have previously experienced anxiety but this did not cause alcoholism but could contribute to it by using alcohol as a drug to mask painful feelings and experiences.

Sweets79

For me anxiety came first, which was a big part of why I drank.

NewDayNow

No experimenting, I started drinking when I was 11. from that point on I was an anxious and depressed drunk. As I recall I was a fairly happy child before that. I have met others that used alcohol to escape there problems-only to make them worse. We are all so very defferent, with one thing in common.

rider

Anxiety definitely for me. Then alcohol exacerbated that anxiety 100 fold.

tommyk

My anxiety was first, I used alcohol to combat it.

hendershot

anxiety came first but the alcy exaserbated that and the depression. it is possible for alcy to "create" anxiety or depressive distorders I think though--just because you cease drinking does not mean your brain will start working like it was before you started. in either case: it does not really matter, just work with what you got, one day at a time.

Anna

No question at all, for me the anxiety/depression started in my teens. I never drank then at all and tried to manage my issues. When I could no longer keep it together, in my mid-forties, I began to drink and almost instantly became an addict.

c49

Anxiety was seed. I added the alcohol and made that blossom into panic, depression, hate and resentment.

smacked

Anxiety came first, I medicated with alcohol.. but then realized the alcohol was exacerbating it, and not treating it. It got worse and worse, until I quit drinking for good. I haven't had any serious issues with anxiety since I quit.

NewDayNow

Wow, sounds like I missed the pre-drinking anxiety/depression stuff by blitzing my self from 11 on. This was the subject of discussion yesterday during my weekly social at Mcdonald's(yup, strawberry sundaes all around).

Out of the six of us there, I was the only one that couldn't remember any pre-drunk anxiety/depression. OR maybe I just can't remember due to alcohol induced brain damage.

BitsyB

I have been lurking for quite awhile, but your question has inspired me to post. I have been thinking about this very question for quite some time. For me, I think the alcoholism came first. I started drinking in high school and did get drunk occasionally, but I was super happy all through my childhood and high school until I went off to college. In college I drank heavily on a regular basis. I can remember being so depressed and anxious most of the time and I never connected it to my drinking. I was only happy when we were out partying. Then my first year out of college I went to visit some friends out of town and we got really drunk. The next day I was driving back on the interstate and I had my first panic attack. I had to pull over and let my friend drive as I was basically freaking out. (This was in 1981). I really think it was precipitated by alcohol withdrawal. Then I started having wicked panic attacks and was given medication for them. Not one doctor through the years ever asked me about my alcohol use. I have continued having panic attacks/anxiety/depression since then. The only time I didn't drink as an adult was when I was pregnant and I was pretty happy then, too. It's like I just recently started piecing this all together. I know everyone is different and I could have had the same problems in college if I hadn't been drinking, but I'll never know. I have been sober for 49 days and I can't say that I haven't had any anxiety, but I sure haven't had much. I'm very curious to see if my mental state improves as my days of sobriety increase. I've had several women tell me their panic attacks went away once they quit drinking.

monkey1

The anxiety came first for me. I didn't know what it was, of course, but after some horrid experiences from 8 to 11 I found that alcohol was great at moving all of those feelings out of the way. I too started drinking (and smoking weed) when I was 11 to self-medicate.

Hey Bitsy - welcome to SR. Why not start a thread and tell us a little about you? Glad to have you here.

SelfSeeking

I had my first depression when I was a kid- under age 10. However I was growing up in a home with one alcoholic parent and one depressed parent, sooo... ? In a way you could say that it was alcohol AND depression from the start
I found out that alcohol made euphoria replace depression and got rid of anxiety when I was 16. From then on it was off to the races and they are so enmeshed I can't separate them.

However I got here, I'm glad I am where I am today!

SoosieQ

Hey Barefoot~
Welcome. I think a lot of us are self-medicating from so-called "mental issues". The first time I was pulled out of class for being despondent, I was only 7 years old. The anxiety got much worse as I got older and I didn't start drinking heavily until I was in my 20's. I definitely found relief in alcohol, as I didn't have to be quite so intimate with my constant discomfort (both in my own skin and in social situations with others).

In a sense though, it is a bit of a chicken-and-egg issue as you get older and deeper into addiction. I can assure you that although drinking helps temporarily, it only makes things worse. When I quit drinking, my anxiety, depression and insomnia are initially 10x worse because I've depleted my reserves. When I am sober I finally feel like there is some sense of peace and safety again so I can begin to explore the options that help to alleviate the underlying issues.

I wish you all the best in your recovery.

yeahgr8

Anxiety first...self medicated with alcohol, bad move in hindsight;-)

eddie73

Anxiety and ddepression came first for me. I first drank aged 15 and found it to be a very easy form of escape.

I am now almost 8 weeks sober and have found out how difficult emotions come back to haunt you when sober. Its not easy but it is the only way.

BarefootBlues

Thanks for sharing your experiences. They are all very interesting.
I probably had some anxiety as a young child, having an overbearing father and all that.
But I remember drinking the first several times and feeling like I was in such a better place and never wanted to leave.
I drank off and on since then and started drinking wine everyday for the last couple years. Last summer I started having severe panic attacks and really lost my mind. Quit drinking during all that, but started here and there once things settle down.
I won't drink wine anymore, but I have broken down and had some beer lately.
I'm wondering if its the anxiety/depression thats driving my drinking or if its my drinking thats driving my anxiety/depression.
I've been seeing a psychologist and also a psychiatrist, neither of them seem to think that the alcohol has that big of a role in my problem, except for self medicating with it.
I find that odd after all that I've read about alcohol altering brain chemistry long term.
I also wonder if its my intermittent drinking thats keeping my anxiety/depression going.
Thanks everyone.

least

I had anxiety and depression most of my adult life. I was medicating them both with alcohol, and of course that made the anxiety and depression much worse. Sober now, but will always have issues with mental illness, just glad I"m not adding alcohol to it. That would be like throwing gasoline onto a fire.

smynthia

I have generalized anxiety disorder. I believe that I have abused alcohol to try and medicate myself from it. However, with some periods of abstinence and intervals of drinking, I became aware of the fact that drinking made me more anxious. In fact, just one day of drinking can create a ripple effect of anxiety and panic that lasts for days.

That awareness, which I just recently connected, has cemented my decision for total abstinence from alcohol.