Self medication
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Self medication
Do you think there is a difference between self medication with alcohol and being dependent on it? For example if one turns to the bottle because of depression, would am anti depressant help with the alcohol problem?
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If you are asking if anti depressants can cure alcoholism, no they cannot. It is certainly possible to be depressed and not be an alcoholic, but alcoholism is a distinct and separate issue.
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Even tho I turned to alcohol, in part, for depression, by the time I stopped drinking 20 years later I was both depressed and alcoholic. Two problems which both needed working on.
I think anti-depressants can be helpful for a lot of people, but Scott said, if you're thinking they might 'cure' you of alcoholism, you're bound be disappointed.
D
I think anti-depressants can be helpful for a lot of people, but Scott said, if you're thinking they might 'cure' you of alcoholism, you're bound be disappointed.
D
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Join Date: Oct 2013
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Kind of a chicken and the egg question. Am I depressed because of the alcohol or is the alcohol causing my depression? I think I have depressive tendencies and I drank to feel better but many of the things contributing to my depression could have been better addressed if I had more effective coping mechanisms. Drinking only made things worse because then I felt awful, mind and body. Alcohol is a depressant. It's not a good treatment for depression. When I learned better life skills in sobriety, the depression started lifting.
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Originally Posted by Jaxsyer84 
Do you think there is a difference between self medication with alcohol and being dependent on it? For example if one turns to the bottle because of depression, would am anti depressant help with the alcohol problem?
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Join Date: May 2014
Location: London, UK
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Like the others said, the way to find out is by getting sober.
As I've said before on other posts, I take medication for depression and anxiety which was an issue before I started drinking. It all got 100% worse the morning after drinking, so I was convinced that the meds weren't working. But when I got sober, maybe a week into sobriety, I started feeling different in a good way.
So for me, anxiety and depression is something independent of my alcoholism, but at the same time, it was made worse by drinking.
As I've said before on other posts, I take medication for depression and anxiety which was an issue before I started drinking. It all got 100% worse the morning after drinking, so I was convinced that the meds weren't working. But when I got sober, maybe a week into sobriety, I started feeling different in a good way.
So for me, anxiety and depression is something independent of my alcoholism, but at the same time, it was made worse by drinking.
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Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 6,613
Many non alcoholics will use alcohol as a kind of medication to deal with life rough spots. My childhood sweet hearts mother disappeared on a three day bender when she discovered what we had been up to. She hardly ever drank, and was nowhere near an alcoholic.
On the other hand self medication was not something that ever occurred to me. I drank because I couldn't not drink. Simple as that.ni drank as much as I could as often as I could regardless of any outside circumstances.
On the other hand self medication was not something that ever occurred to me. I drank because I couldn't not drink. Simple as that.ni drank as much as I could as often as I could regardless of any outside circumstances.
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