SelfhelpMagazine

by Reid K. Hester, Ph.D.

There are more alcohol effects on psychology and mood than you can shake a stick at. If you head to your local bookstore and check out the "recovery" section you'll find shelves of books that address your question. So it really is impossible to answer your question in a brief, concise way.

Instead, let me give you a brief overview of alcohol and its effects on mood. Alcohol is a depressant. The more you drink the more it depresses your cognitive functions, your physical functions, and your mood. At high doses it can depress your central nervous system functions right into the grave. It is the most powerful drug available. Chronic heavy use puts people at risk for a variety of mood disorders including depression and anxiety, to name but two.

Fortunately, we find that most, but not all, people's moods and psychological problems resolve or improve substantially when they stop drinking or drinking heavily. If you or someone you know are having problems with mood or other psychological consequences, consider a vacation from alcohol of 30-180 days.

Give yourself time to figure out how you've come to depend on alcohol psychologically and time to develop alternative ways to deal with different situations and enhance your life. If you can't do it, for whatever reason (or excuse) you give yourself or others, you probably will need some form of professional help to stop successfully. Don't waste any more of your life.

Go get the help you need, and the sooner the better. Alcohol has many negative effects> It is one of the most serious causes of other health and relationship problems.

About the Author:

Reid K. Hester, Ph.D., Director, Research Division, Behavior Therapy Associates, 9426 Indian School Rd NE, Suite 1, Albuquerque, NM 87112. Phone: 505.345.6100.

Dr. Hester is has developed an evidence-based, web application called ModerateDrinking.com to help heavy drinkers be successful in changing their drinking. A video demo of the program is available at www.behaviortherapy.com