Excess alcohol damaging to mental health

Ollie Bennett, Community Team Manager with 2gether NHS Trust’s Substance Misuse Service, said: “People who are drinking alcohol dependently do not drink primarily for the enjoyment of it.

“Alcohol is often used to mask other psychological issues but all too often it becomes the primary problem.

“The Countywide Specialist Substance Misuse Service (CSSMS) has treated approximately 400 people in the past year, offering medically assisted inpatient and community detoxification and relapse prevention.

“I would encourage anyone who is concerned about their drinking levels or behaviour to seek advice from their GP or contact the Independence Trust, who are the single point of access for treatment within the County.

“Here you can access specialist services and get information on safely reducing your alcohol intake.

“You will be offered assessment, the option of group work and support to explore the issues related to your alcohol use.”

Alcohol is used by some to alleviate stress, anxiety or depression. But drinkers with existing mental health issues can make their symptoms worse.

The new warnings aim to highlight recommended alcohol consumption levels.

It can have a powerful effect on mood and behaviour change, depending on how much alcohol is consumed and how quickly, by depressing the central nervous system.

It is seen as a major cause of some people becoming aggressive or angry when they would otherwise be calm.

Dr Karen Williams, Associate Medical Director and Consultant Addiction Psychiatrist with the Trust, said people could easily become confused about how much alcohol was considered safe to drink.

“If people stick to the recommended guidelines for alcohol, then drinking is not too much of a problem, providing you have an otherwise healthy liver,” said Dr Williams.

“Long term health impacts include heart disease and psychological illnesses like depression and anxiety. It can also impact upon your everyday life and affect your friends and family.

“Even relatively moderate drinking can exacerbate existing mental health conditions.

“It’s sometimes hard to keep track of how much you are drinking, particularly if you are going to parties where others are pouring your drinks or topping up your glass.”

The Department of Health recommended safe drinking levels for men is 3-4 units per day and 2-3 units a day for women. Most people who experience problems are not addicted, but have drunk more than the recommended guidelines over a number of years. A pint of 4 per cent strength beer, lager or cider is two units, whereas 5.3 per cent strength is considered as three.

Premium strength lager or cider at 9 per cent is considered as one of the more damaging choices for drinkers, with one 440ml can weighing in at a whopping nine units, the same as a bottle of 12 per cent wine.

A campaign called ‘Dry Janaury’ by Alcohol Concern launched this month to encourage people to try giving up alcohol for the start of the year.

Facts about alcohol and your health

• Men can tolerate alcohol better than women, due to biological differences between the sexes. If a woman and a man drink exactly the same amount, the performance of the woman will be more impaired than that of the man. This is because women are generally smaller and lighter, but also their bodies contain less water and have a different metabolism.

• Nothing will prevent the absorption of alcohol into your body – not even eating a big meal or drinking lots of water. Eating may delay the impact of the alcohol, but it can’t stop it from entering your blood stream.

• Alcohol is a depressant and affects your emotions. It reduces your coordination, slows your reactions, affects your vision and generally makes you less able to judge speed and distance, hence why it impairs your ability to drive.

• Alcohol is highly calorific – a large glass of red wine can contain 200 calories and any sugar in mixers or cocktails is in addition to the alcohol content of the spirits. Alcohol also has a tendency to make people eat more.

• Beer does not get you less drunk than wine. An average pint of beer, a large glass of wine and a large double vodka contain the same units of alcohol.

• If you regularly exceed the recommended limits alcohol can cause liver disease, depression and anxiety, cancers and heart disease, other accidents, and dependence. It also can affect social, occupational and family functioning

For information on the NHS substance misuse service visit http://www.2gether.nhs.uk/substance-misuse-services

There is also further information about alcoholism at http://www.2gether.nhs.uk/alcoholism