Did you know that what we drink can affect how we feel? A group of scientists found that people who drink less alcohol often feel less sad or depressed.
On the other hand, people who drink more alcohol often feel more depressed. This was true even if they drank more than what is considered healthy.
This might encourage people to drink less if they want to feel happier. It could also help doctors treat people who are feeling very sad or depressed.
By watching how much alcohol a person drinks, doctors might be able to help them feel better.
How Did They Find This Out?
To figure this out, the scientists looked at the answers from 200,000 people. These people were asked about their drinking habits and feelings at their regular doctor visits from 2016 to 2020.
These people filled out special questionnaires about how much alcohol they drank and how they felt. They did this twice, with 11 to 24 months in between.
Some of the people reported drinking unhealthy amounts of alcohol. Some also reported feeling depressed.
Most people’s drinking habits didn’t change between the first time and the second time they filled out the questionnaire.
What Did They Discover?
The scientists found something interesting. Almost every group of people who started drinking more also reported feeling more depressed.
The only exceptions were people who started drinking a little when they weren’t drinking at all before, and people whose drinking increased from a lot to very a lot.
People who reported drinking less also reported feeling less depressed. The only exception was people who stopped drinking completely, but were not drinking unhealthy amounts before.
What Does This Mean?
This study doesn’t explain why drinking more or less affects how people feel. It could be that drinking more makes people feel sadder, or feeling sadder makes people drink more.
There could also be other things that affect both drinking and mood at the same time.
The scientists used two tools to measure people’s drinking and feelings. The AUDIT-C measures risky drinking, and the PHQ-2 measures depression.
There might be some problems with these measurements because people can sometimes give wrong answers when they are asked about their habits and feelings.
Also, the people in the study were mostly older, white, non-Hispanic people from Washington state, who had insurance.
So, remember kids, what we eat and drink can affect our mood and feelings!
If you care about health, please read studies that black licorice could cause dangerous high blood pressure, and this common plant nutrient could help reduce high blood pressure.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about how coffee influence your risk of high blood pressure, and results showing this olive oil could reduce blood pressure in healthy people.
The study was published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research.
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