The
Relationship Between Stress and Alcohol
"She drove me to drink" used to be a fairly common remark. Its
essential meaning is that stress induces people to consume alcohol.
While it certainly can be true that stress can be an incentive to
drink, it's equally true that the opposite is true...heavy alcohol
consumption causes stress.
Moderate alcohol intake, to be sure, in some respects, can have
beneficial effects. Research suggests that small amounts can even
improve mental functioning and increase performance in problem solving
while stressed. Red wine contains resveratrol, a potent antioxidant
with many valuable health aspects. However, there are also
studies that demonstrate that large quantities, particularly when
consumed for long periods, will actually worsen stress.
One way this happens is that extensive alcohol consumption stimulates
the hypothalamus,
pituitary
and adrenal glands.
One result is an increase in the amount of cortisol
produced within the body. Another is an increase in adrenaline. Both
those compounds, while they don't alone cause stress, play a large role
in the symptoms.
Extreme stress can make it more difficult to concentrate. One of the
obvious effects of high alcohol intake is to produce that exact effect.
Thus, heavy drinkers get a double whammy just at the moment they need
mental clarity most.
Other studies suggest that chronic drinkers have symptoms similar to
those seen in children with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder). Children of those drinkers, this research concludes, have a
higher incidence of actual ADHD.
So, it may also be true that as much as the stress of parenting may
lead to drinking, adult drinking may encourage the circumstances that
incentivize the parent to drink. It may also be a factor in producing
children's symptoms that lead to adult stress.
Exercise is known to help relieve the symptoms of stress.
Unfortunately, one of the additional results of excessive alcohol
consumption is decreased exercise. Few inebriated people want to go a
few rounds on the weight machine. Also, alcohol and exercise simply do not
mix. Use of alcohol interferes with the beneficial effects of
exercise.
Similarly, high alcohol intake suppresses appetite. Thus, at the same
time alcoholic drinks are high calories, and they decrease the
incentive to maintain a healthy diet. Once again the drinker
experiences a doubly negative reinforcing effect.
Those with money problems who drink excessively to escape stress find
it more difficult to cope with the problem that caused the stress in
the first place. Even simple tasks like balancing a checkbook are
clearly more difficult when drunk. But beyond such minor details, the
cognitive functions needed to develop long term strategies are
impaired.
Drinkers literally can't think their way out of the problems causing
the stress.
In all these cases there is a vicious cycle established. Stress
encourages heavy drinking, which makes it more difficult to deal with
the internal and external factors that led to that stress in the first
place. Though the specific numbers will vary from person to person,
when the average individual drinks more than two or three
shots of whiskey, or the equivalent, per day, the results are
inevitably bad.
The key to breaking this vicious cycle is to seek alternative methods
for dealing with stress. Both the symptoms and the underlying
motivators are subject to change in almost all cases. Proper exercise
and diet is a good beginning. Disciplines such as yoga
and meditation can be of value in managing
stress, while having a realistic attitude about life's
inherent challenges can go a long way, as well.
As with any psychological problem, however, admitting it exists is the
first necessary step.
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