Advice on alcohol and drugs

It's not just about giving up- rethink how you use them.

This factsheet is not to tell you ‘alcohol and drugs are bad, avoid them like the plague' as this is not often realistic. However, if you feel that you're use of them is becoming detrimental to your health and life then it may be a good idea to start cutting down.
Alcohol is quite obviously a big part of student life and getting away from it can be hard. It might be necessary to give it a miss completely if you are feeling severely ill or are on antidepressants as its depressive effect can be enhanced. However, it might just mean cutting down a bit and knowing your limits or getting some friends to help you limit how much you drink.
Small quantities of alcohol can lift your mood but it's a fine line and one drink can lead to many more which can have a big chemically depressive effect. Here are some more negative effects that alcohol can have on a mentally unwell person.

• Makes you lose inhibitions resulting in risky behaviour like self harm, impulsive acts of suicide, sexual promiscuity.
• The body becomes tolerant to alcohol so more and more is needed to achieve the same effect, leading to a dependency.
• Your way of thinking becomes more extreme- do you notice that when you've been drinking, opinions and judgements become more acute? When you're depressed for example, this can lead to highly negative thinking and thinking you're a rubbish person can quickly lead to thinking that you are a complete failure.
• Alcohol may make you get to sleep better but the problem with this is that it makes for bad quality to sleep so in the long run you'll be worse off.

Although there haven't been any hard and fast conclusions reached from research on the effect of drugs on mental health, the general consensus is that they are detrimental. It seems that you cannot predict how you personally will react so if you're not feeling good then it's best to stay away in case they have any of the following effects.

• Cannabis can intensify the mood that you're in so, if you're worried, you're likely to become more worried.
• Cannabis can produce symptoms similar to depression like insomnia, lack of motivation, irritability and appetite loss so this can all contribute to the downward spiral.
• Harder drugs are known for making some people paranoid or delusional and can make people feel suicidal.

If the people you normally go out with or spend time with are not accepting of what you are trying to do by reducing or cutting out alcohol or drug intake then it could be time to broaden your social horizons and make some new friends. It helps if you've got friends on your side to support the decisions that you make.