Real Student Stories

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Picture of Anna Growing up as a twin, Keisha struggled to find her own identity and got into the habit of presenting a facade of perfection to hide her depressed feelings. She is starting to learn to open up a bit more to others... more > >

Also in "Tackling Depression"...

"You can start drugs naively, because it's part of the hip scene or whatever, but it's all really about comfort, soothing your pain. It's self medication at the end of the day. I was using marijuana and I found that made the depression worse - where I already had this kind of tiredness in my depression, it made it worse. Then I'd have issues like being late for work and being a bit haphazard.

I haven't used any drugs now for three years. Getting away to a different area and no longer having people around me who smoked really helped. It feels so good to wake up in the morning and be clear headed and focused." Tonya

"At the time it felt good to be more popular, and I was happy when I was drunk. But deep down I knew it was all superficial. If I went out for a drink and someone started on me, offering me a fight, then I made a habit of taking them up. When I was fighting the aggression was coming from bottled up emotions, but it didn't feel like I was getting rid of those emotions - it was like an endless supply." Darren

Students Against Depression
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Checking Alcohol & Drugs

Have Another

Do you self medicate with alcohol or drugs?

If so, you know you're not alone! Using alcohol, in particular, to 'feel better' is a widely accepted part of student (and wider) culture. This culture creates a win-win situation for depression - excessive alcohol and drug consumption is likely to make you feel worse not better, and a recent study of UK students* showed that not drinking can also lead to isolation and depression.

How alcohol & drugs can contribute to the depression habit spiral

Alcohol

Small quantities of alcohol do initially briefly lift mood levels BUT larger amounts of alcohol tend to have a chemically depressive effect.
Our bodies learn to tolerate alcohol, so greater and greater quantities are needed to provide the brief mood lift. Heavy alcohol consumption comes with many other risks in addition to depression.
Alcohol is known to compromise judgement. Have you ever noticed how opinions become more extreme when drunk? In other words, alcohol makes you more prone to all-or-nothing and other types of depressed thinking.
Alcohol loosens inhibitions and increases impulsivity, raising the risk that someone might impulsively enact suicidal thoughts.
Drinking heavily to try to get to sleep makes things worse, because alcohol disrupts quality sleep and makes sleep problems worse in the long run.

Drugs

Cannabis tends to intensify whatever mood the person is in - so not great when you're affected by depression!
Heavy cannabis use can lead to loss of drive and motivation, irritability, insomnia and reduced appetite - very similar symptoms to depression, and likely to contribute to a depression habit spiral.
Heavy use of other recreational drugs such as opioids (heroin etc), amphetamines (and related drugs), cocaine, ecstasy and LSD all have potential risks in withdrawal of lowering of mood and triggering depression, as well as of suicidal thoughts.
It is not possible to predict whether or when you might experience withdrawal effects, but if you are already affected by depression, especially suicidal thoughts, then these drugs are obviously especially risky.
When heavy drinking or drug taking is a cultural norm and there is a lot of pressure to conform, then not participating can be isolating - another contribution to depression.

Strategies

Be realistic
No need to be all-or-nothing about it - make realistic goals for cutting down, rather than vowing total abstinence.
Broaden your social activities
Try to engage in some social activities which do not involve alcohol/drugs.
Get friends to help
Stick with friends who do not pressurise each other too much and get your friends to support you in cutting down (you don't have to give your reasons).
No need to stop socialising!
Remember that you can cut down on drinking without cutting out socialising: make every other drink a soft drink, or drink low-alcohol beer or "club sodas" that don't look different.
Build good support networks
Work on building up new, constructive friendships and support networks.
Evaluate the culture
As a general strategy, take a step back and evaluate what role drug and alcohol habits play in student and wider culture - see depression in student life and a depression-inducing culture?.
Get help for addiction
If you do feel that you may have a problem with addiction, seek professional help from a specialist drug and alcohol agency (your doctor can advise).