„Why Do I Keep Doing This?”: Understanding Our Reasons for Drinking

If you’re someone who drinks for fun, keep an eye on how much you’re drinking. Enhancement drinkers are more likely to binge drink or lose track of their drinking when with friends, which can lead to harmful consequences like accidents, fights, or unwanted sexual encounters. Unintended injury is the top cause of alcohol-related harm among teens and young adults. As an addiction tends to get worse over time, it’s important to look for early warning signs. If identified and treated early, someone with an alcohol addiction may be able to avoid major consequences of the disease.

These contributors included mixing molly and weed both experts external to NIAAA as well as NIAAA staff. Jennifer Reid, M.D., is a psychiatrist, mindset and wellness coach, writer, and podcaster. She is also an award-winning educator on the clinical faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. What I found particularly interesting about Ms. Whitaker’s book was the way she challenged the cultural acceptance of most forms of drinking, and how societal pressures shape our seemingly independent choices. Instinctively, we repeat what gives us pleasure and flinch away from the pain.

The 4 Main Reasons Why We Drink

This is probably because people are using alcohol to deal with underlying problems rather than seeking out more effective long-term solutions for managing their challenges. By drinking to cope, you’re avoiding dealing with the underlying problem(s), and your alcohol use can actually make them worse—for example, by interfering with relationships with family and friends. Individuals who experience trauma, or who are more prone to depression or anxiety, are more likely to report drinking to cope. As a loved one of someone with an alcohol addiction, try to be encouraging and provide emotional support. Friends and family members of people who have an alcohol addiction can benefit from professional support or by joining programs like Al-Anon.

Articles Related to Alcoholism

Finding suitable replacements for alcohol as a coping skill can be helpful even if abstinence is not our goal. Enjoying a drink feels different than needing a drink to tolerate a painful or difficult experience. Also, our brain’s ability to adjust to novel situations relies on repeated exposure with positive outcomes. Dulling our learning centers with a sedative like alcohol makes it much harder to rewire our brains and improve our confidence and comfort in new situations. I’ve heard drinking described as “a cup of extroversion,” providing confidence in situations that otherwise would trigger awkwardness, embarrassment, or withdrawals from cymbalta even anxiety.

Once the brain becomes accustomed to the presence of alcohol, the mind believes it needs alcohol to feel pleasure, prompting a compulsive urge, or craving, to drink. When the craving isn’t satisfied, the body experiences withdrawal symptoms. Alcohol withdrawal symptoms can vary, but some of the most common include irritability, depression, sweating, mood swings, headaches, tremors, nightmares, mood swings, anxiety, nausea, cravings for alcohol, and vomiting. More severe withdrawal symptoms can include fever, seizures, high blood pressure, and hallucinations. Typically, alcoholics drink and continue to drink to avoid these unpleasant symptoms. You can promote healthy changes in the brains and behaviors of patients with AUD by encouraging them to take a long-term, science-based approach to getting better.

It may also take some of the fun away, not to mention a willingness to stay in a noisy bar as the hour grows late. Typically, alcohol withdrawal symptoms happen for heavier drinkers. Alcohol withdrawal can begin within hours of ending a drinking session. Over time, the brain becomes used to these chemical imbalances.

It can cause changes to the brain and neurochemistry, so a person with an alcohol addiction may not be able to control their actions. If we chose modest consumption, identifying the proper environments and reasons to reach for a drink can feel empowering. Perhaps a glass of wine during a conversation with a friend is a pleasure we want to allow ourselves and helps us feel connected and engaged. Maybe alcohol is celebratory, or a chance to explore new cultures or experiences through taste.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Think about how often we see people in movies or on TV having a great time with a drink in their hand. These scenes stick with us, associating drinking with fun and friendship. They subtly reinforce our beliefs that alcohol equals good times and pleasure. If you’re worried that someone you know has an alcohol addiction, it’s best to approach them in a supportive way. This could push them away and make them more resistant to your help. In short, alcohol use during adolescence can interfere with structural and functional brain development and increase the risk for AUD not only during adolescence but also into adulthood.

People Become Alcoholics for a Reason

These complications are reasons why it’s important to treat alcohol addiction early. Nearly all risks involved with alcohol addiction may be avoidable or treatable, with successful long-term recovery. Together, medication and behavioral health treatments can facilitate functional brain recovery. Alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol use that involves problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol or continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems.

1. The important thing is that we understand our relationship with alcohol, realize where it may not be serving us, and make informed decisions about its presence in our lives.
2. Much like my cat’s relentless search for the hard-to-reach fishy treat, humans often exhibit behaviors driven by a deeper rationale that isn’t immediately apparent.
3. Eventually, the brain becomes accustomed to this chemical imbalance, causing individuals to drink more in order to experience the “feel -good” feeling they had before.
4. Someone might dread the tossing and turning that comes with insomnia.
5. The long-term brain changes and chemical imbalances from drinking raise the risk of relapse without help.
6. In order for treatment to work, the person with an alcohol addiction must want to get sober.

During acute and protracted withdrawal, a profound negative emotional state evolves, termed hyperkatifeia (hyper-kuh-TEE-fee-uh). These brain changes related to excessive alcohol use underlie many AUD symptoms. If you feel that you sometimes drink too much alcohol, or your drinking is causing problems, or if your family is concerned about your drinking, talk with your health care provider. Other ways to get help include talking with a mental health professional or seeking help from a group activities for substance abuse support group such as Alcoholics Anonymous or a similar type of self-help group.

Too much alcohol affects your speech, muscle coordination and vital centers of your brain. A heavy drinking binge may even cause a life-threatening coma or death. This is of particular concern when you’re taking certain medications that also depress the brain’s function. In order for treatment to work, the person with an alcohol addiction must want to get sober.

The first two are considered negative drinking motives and relate to winding down—using alcohol to “deal with it,” whatever “it” is for you. The latter two are referred to as positive drinking motives and relate to winding up—using alcohol for fun. The Healthline FindCare tool can provide options in your area if you need help finding a mental health specialist. When is it common in society, it can be hard to tell the difference between someone who likes to have a few drinks now and then and someone with a real problem.