If you struggle with depression in recovery, you might benefit from holistic methods. These can reduce stress and anxiety, and help you be in a calmer more relaxed state of mind. These might include art therapy, yoga, mindfulness, deep-breathing techniques, and meditation.
It's common to feel anxious or cranky. Your mood should get better within 3 to 6 weeks. Tell your doctor if it doesn't. You may need treatment for long-term symptoms or an undiagnosed mental health condition.
Depression and Alcohol Withdrawal
Many people who quit drinking experience significant mental and emotional changes and experiencing depression after giving up drinking is actually a very common withdrawal symptom. Alcoholism is a disease that affects the brain and body in ways you may not have imagined.
Alcohol dependence causes the brain pathways to become altered. The brain became dependent on the dopamine released by the daily drinking. Once sober, brain chemistry will adjust, but it takes time. In the meantime, symptoms of depression can be very common.
Experiencing this type of loss brings with it a range of overwhelming emotions broken up into different stages. Just some of these include sadness, anger, confusion, resentment, and even relief if a loved one has been suffering.
Alcoholics frequently experience episodes of intense depression and/or severe anxiety. Depressed or anxious alcohol-dependent people often believe that they drink to relieve symptoms of sadness or nervousness.
As people go through withdrawal, they may experience high levels of anxiety. This is usually the result of the increased sensitivity that the body displays when it has stopped drinking. The anxiety can be so severe that people feel as though they are on edge, and they may also have difficulties sleeping as a result.
After One Year: Congrats on making it to 12 months! At this point, your risk of developing all types of disease will be reduced and your bone density will start to increase.5 Keep in mind that everyone is different and will experience different things when they stop drinking.
Mental Health Benefits of Quitting Alcohol
Quitting alcohol has a number of important mental health benefits. In addition to improving your mental well-being, it may lower your risk for some mental illness and contribute to better sleep.
It's pretty normal to feel bored in early sobriety, but it's kind of related to not being used to feeling calm or peace. The feeling of things being too quiet or empty does pass. Don't be scared. I promise you will have so much fun in life without alcohol.
The First Two Weeks
Most people will stop experiencing withdrawal symptoms in less than a week, in which time their body will begin to restore its normal function and quality of life can already improve considerably.
You might find yourself in a better mood
Alcohol can ease emotions in the short term, but once the alcohol begins to wear off, it can actually create more anger, depression and anxiety. Plus, after three weeks without alcohol you will almost certainly be sleeping better, which also has mood-improving benefits.
Once you've cut down your drinking (or stopped drinking altogether), keep going like this for a couple of weeks. Most people can expect to see an improvement in their anxiety symptoms in this time as the brain's balance of chemicals and processes start to return to normal and you experience better quality sleep6.
For one, I am physically renewed with a new sense of normal, one gloriously free from hangovers. I wake up most days by 6:30 a.m. and meditate. Often, I will do some yoga or stretching before work. Mornings are quiet and calm, and I move through them with a grateful mind.
Not necessarily. The cravings will lessen in severity over time, but for some people, they will take several years to go away completely.
During this time, energy levels rise, and overall better health begins. What happens when you stop drinking alcohol for three months is more than physical. For three months, alcoholics in recovery often report positive changes in their emotional state, career, finances, and personal relationships.
'Hangxiety' - or 'hangover anxiety' - is that horrible, anxious feeling of dread sometimes experienced the morning after a night of drinking. It directly impacts your mood alongside physical hangover symptoms and, for some people, can be so debilitating that it's enough reason to want to cut out booze entirely.
Axis I disorders commonly associated with alcoholism include bipolar disorder, certain anxiety disorders (e.g., social phobia, panic disorder, and post–traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]), schizophrenia, and major depression (Helzer and Przybeck 1988; Kessler et al.
Alcohol can make some people more emotional than usual, causing them to cry more easily. However, for some, alcohol can cause anger and aggression, which can become a real problem.
In recovery, it is essential to focus on the 3 P's. What are the 3 P's of recovery and how can you identify them in your life? Lately I have been reflecting on my own recovery journey and on what has kept me inspired to recover for all these years.
In recovery, feelings of loneliness are not a sign that there's something wrong with you. Instead, these emotions are often a natural outcome of walking away from the people and places associated with your addiction. The chaotic world you became comfortable with has been stripped away.
At times you will feel on top of the world as you conquer your addiction, but there will also be days when you feel stuck and as if sobriety is something just out of reach. On these days filled with sadness, anger, resentment and more, you may feel discouraged.