Drinking to Cope (E43)
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Gill discusses drinking to cope. Many problem drinkers will drink to cope with stress, anxiety, depression, past trauma, or loneliness. When we try to stop drinking, we’re not used to handling our problems and feelings so each one becomes a major trigger. There is a big connection between drinking to cope and developing a drinking problem. In this episode, you'll learn about some studies on drinking to cope and a few reasons why women are more likely to do this than men are. She will tell you about her experience drinking to cope, and her advice for anyone who is struggling with this.
Key Takeaways
From 2002 to 2012 the rates of alcohol use disorder have increased in women by 84% and have increased in men by 35%. Based on 16 years of national data, there have been substantial increases in alcohol use and binge drinking in women, but not in men. It’s suggested that the reason more women are binge drinking and developing problems with alcohol is because women drink to cope and are more sensitive to the effects of alcohol, both on the body and with our brain chemistry.
There is a strong connection between drinking to cope and developing a problem later in life. One study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology in 2003 looked at 412 depressed patients over a 10 year period. Drinking to cope and overall alcohol consumption was measured at the initial screening, 1, 4, and 10 year follow ups. 15% of the participants who did not drink to cope developed a drinking problem later in life, and 43% of people who drank to cope developed a drinking problem.
When you drink to cope you’re forgetting about your problems for a few hours, but you aren’t actually resolving your problems. They hang around and wait for you to be sober again. When we avoid our problems, they usually don’t just disappear, they get worse. Then we need to drink to cope more often because now we have more problems or our current problems have become more upsetting. You’ve programmed your brain to associate problems and negative feelings with alcohol, so drinking becomes an automatic thought.
Sources
Holahan, C. Drinking to Cope and Alcohol Use and Abuse in Unipolar Depression: A 10-Year Model. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. Vol 112, No1, 159-165. 2003.
Holahan CJ, Moos RH, Holahan CK, Cronkite RC, Randall PK. Drinking to cope, emotional distress and alcohol use and abuse: a ten-year model. Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 2001;62(2):190-198. doi:10.15288/jsa.2001.62.190
T, Buddy. Drinking to Relieve Stress May Actually Compound the Problem. Verywell Mind. 2021.
Peltier MR, Verplaetse TL, Mineur YS, et al. Sex differences in stress-related alcohol use. Neurobiology of Stress. 2019;10:100149.
Cite this episode
Tietz, G. Episode 43: Drinking to Cope. Sober Powered. 2021.
