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Can Drinking Alcohol Affect My Brain?

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Posted on Thu, 23 Jan 2014
Question: My son has a drinking problem that I suspect is related to some mental condition. He says the drinking is to "quiet" his mind. When he is drinking, I get text after text asking questions about life, religion, God, etc. Here is an example from a few minutes ago. "What the hell happened to our brains? What does a bullet feel like as it destroys a brain? What does it feel like to be a president? What does it feel like to be raped? I guess I have too many questions." I don't know what to do to help. No matter what I say, he has an answer that makes sense in his mind.
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Answered by Dr. Srikanth Reddy (30 minutes later)
Brief Answer: Depression patients self treat with alcohol Detailed Answer: Hello, Thanks for choosing health care magic for posting your query. I have gone through your question in detail and I can understand what you are going through. Patients of depression and anxiety drink more during the exacerbations. They tend to self treat themselves. By taking alcohol they tend to feel better for a short duration and do it repeatedly. It does help in quetening the brain temporarily but in the long run it leads to a bigger problem. The depression and anxiety needs to be treated. Venlafaxine mirtazapine and fluoxetine are good drugs for treating these disorders. If he is everse to the drugs then cognitive behavioural therapy is the option for treating his uncalm mind as well as alcohol related problem. Hope I am able to answer your concerns. If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you. If not, you may close the discussion and if possible you may rate the answer for me, so that I get a good feedback. In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link: bit.ly/dr-srikanth-reddy Wish you good health, Kind regards Dr. Srikanth Reddy M.D.
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Dr. Srikanth Reddy

Psychiatrist

Practicing since :2007

Answered : 2770 Questions

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Can Drinking Alcohol Affect My Brain?

Brief Answer: Depression patients self treat with alcohol Detailed Answer: Hello, Thanks for choosing health care magic for posting your query. I have gone through your question in detail and I can understand what you are going through. Patients of depression and anxiety drink more during the exacerbations. They tend to self treat themselves. By taking alcohol they tend to feel better for a short duration and do it repeatedly. It does help in quetening the brain temporarily but in the long run it leads to a bigger problem. The depression and anxiety needs to be treated. Venlafaxine mirtazapine and fluoxetine are good drugs for treating these disorders. If he is everse to the drugs then cognitive behavioural therapy is the option for treating his uncalm mind as well as alcohol related problem. Hope I am able to answer your concerns. If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you. If not, you may close the discussion and if possible you may rate the answer for me, so that I get a good feedback. In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link: bit.ly/dr-srikanth-reddy Wish you good health, Kind regards Dr. Srikanth Reddy M.D.