The British journal, Public Health News, which has gone out of business(!) since this article was published, last year had a good article by Shannon McKenzie entitled, "Self-Medication through Alcohol May Leave Millions More Vulnerable." Because we've been talking lately in this blog about how veterans (and others) sometimes can turn to substance abuse as a way to deal with enormous life stressors, such as combat trauma and/or PTSD, we though this article was worth citing. It was written to a British audience, and does not address combat specifically. It does, however, make the point that society is increasingly turning to numbing as a way of coping. Unfortunately, as the article indicates, it's not a strategy that works well enough, long enough; and it can ultimately backfire. Here's what it had to say. It shouldn't be hard to make the mental leap to the problem of veterans self-medicating for symptoms of PTSD.
Millions of UK adults are using alcohol to deal with stress, anxiety and depression, according to a new report by the Mental Health Foundation ("MHF"). But their efforts to self-medicate could in fact increase their vulnerability to more serious mental health problems.
A National Opinion Poll survey carried out for the MHF showed 48 per cent of respondents aged 35- to 44-years-old said alcohol made them feel less anxious, while 26 per cent of all those questioned reported alcohol made them feel less depressed.
The MHF report – Cheers? – notes that alcohol consumption has doubled over the past 50 years.
Alcohol, it appears, is one of the British public’s favourite coping mechanisms. MHF chief executive Dr Andrew McCulloch said drinking alcohol seemed to be a common response to problems, and this was a cause for concern.
‘The research confirms our worries that people are drinking to cope with emotions and situations they can’t otherwise manage to deal with – feelings of anxiety or depression,’ Dr McCulloch said. ‘Drinking alcohol is a very common and accepted way of coping.’
The report outlines two major problems with such a coping mechanism. Firstly, self-medicating with alcohol can become self-perpetuating. Underlying anxiety can lead to increased alcohol use, which can in turn alter the chemistry of the brain, making people even more anxious and in need of even more alcohol to ‘numb’ their anxieties. Over time this can result in individuals becoming tolerant of alcohol.
Secondly, the report states it is difficult to maintain the right amount of alcohol needed to reduce negative feelings. And, given alcohol is a depressant, feelings of anxiety and depression may rapidly return. Even worse, these negative feelings can be amplified. The report notes that as many as 65 per cent of all suicides have been linked to excessive drinking, and 70 per cent of men who kill themselves have alcohol in their system.
People with psychiatric disorders are also more likely to turn to alcohol to self-medicate.
The coexistence of alcohol and severe mental ill health problems is well-known – the prevalence of alcohol dependence among those with psychiatric disorders is estimated at twice that of the general population. People with severe and enduring mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, are at least three times more likely to be alcohol dependent.
Related Links:
The British Mental Health Foundation; and we would add, for our British readers, Combat Stress UK, the "Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society," which has a section of its website devoted to PTSD. Click here for that link.
