Alcohol is Not Your Friend | ADHD | Episode 10
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- Опубліковано 11 сер 2020
- Although more people are turning to it while sheltering in place, or to celebrate lessened restrictions, alcohol is probably not your friend.
Join the conversation on Facebook: / drjohnkruse
The most productive thing i've ever done is give up alcohol, I have ADHD and have realised (i'm 41 now so it took me a while to figure out) that drinking really messed me up, accelerating my impulsivness. Life has improved dramatically since getting it out of my life.
I'm glad that you found out what wasn't working and have moved on without it.
I was diagnosed 4 years ago. Finally life seams to make sense. My issue is now with meds I seam to regress into a jmade up shell,I'm hoping that I can quit the drinking. These videos and comments seam important to me. I have a drink then wish I haven't but itsthe only thing that opens me up till I get to dru k the I watch TV. It's ruining my life but my extreme need to eat what I want my impulse ,..urbh any thoughts
I am just figuring it out now myself and 36 , after a drink my mood just goes down hill like a negative reset button
Therapy is good for helping with this, it may not happen right away, but if you keep going it eventually will. Good luck myfriend.
1 year now since I touched and still the best decision i've ever made, life is just better.
All the benefits I had with the medication, the drive to get up and do stuff and having less emotional fluctuations, it all goes away after a night drinking alcohol. I need days to recover my balance.
The effects of alcohol after the euphoria are enemies of ADHD people.
Agreed!
Before being diagnosed with ADHD, I noticed something intriguing. Occasionally, after a night of moderate drinking and enough sleep, I would experience an unusual mental clarity. My thoughts were more streamlined, life decisions made almost complete sense, and I felt centered, peaceful, and at ease.
This didn't happen all the time, only when I seemed to hit a 'sweet spot' of the right amount of drinks and sleep. During these handful of ‘hangover effect’ instances, I felt a significant reduction in (what I now know as) my usual ADHD symptoms and anxiety levels.
Now, with the hindsight of my diagnosis, it appears the alcohol might have been temporarily easing my ADHD symptoms. It’s led me to question if there’s a biological or neurological underpinning to this phenomenon. I’m aware that this isn't a healthy or long-term solution. I've now luckily landed on more sustainable strategies to manage my ADHD and mental health with medication and therapy.
I’m curious, have you ever heard something like this from any of your patients? FYI- there’s an entire subreddit (r/hangovereffect) of about 10,000 people who describe similar experiences, many of which identify as having adhd.
Thank you for your videos, they’ve been insightful!
While I've worked with some people whose ADHD were helped by marijuana (which also seems counter-intuitive) I haven't had anyone describing experiences like yours with alcohol. What makes it particularly surprising to me is that alcohol (even just a glass of wine at noon) measurably disrupts deeper stages of sleep that night, which I would expect to not be helpful for next day ADHD symptoms. On the other hand, alcohol can certainly help people fall asleep, and since initial insomnia is the most common sleep problem among those with ADHD, maybe the net effect was something more restorative about sleep in those nights you had just the right amount of alcohol.
@@DrJohnKrusemarijuana absolutely turns my ADHD and anxiety up to 11 while alcohol in small amounts levels me out significantly but after a few drinks I become just like everybody else, impulsive and over confident lik
Experienced the same thing - strange clarity and ease of decision making sometimes when hung over. Later diagnosed with ADHD, always wondered about this and later found the sub-reddit you spoke of after figuring out I had ADHD. For the record, I'm now practically tee-total (once every 2 months) as I operate so much better when I have no alcohol in my week!
@@user-lo9ve6gw3i thanks for sharing! can’t believe it’s been a year since i posted that. feeling so much better in my journey and much more stable with ongoing medication and consistent ongoing weekly therapy. i still have no idea why that relaxed state would happen to me when hungover but it’s gotta be some mechanism in the alcohol affecting
my entire nervous system. i’m adamant about my experience and just to further explain it…i remember it being like a flip of a switch, completely shutting off my fight/flight/freeze mode which is my standard operating mode. still have lots of work to do to get to a place where i feel at ease but i’m headed in the right direction. i hope you are too! it sounds like you are by abstaining and whatnot and hope you can continue on the path to clarity- god speed 🚀
@@DrJohnKruse Dr. Kruse, thank you for your thoughtful comment regarding the paradoxical nature of the hangover effect and its potential interactions with ADHD symptoms. Based on a comprehensive meta-analysis of insights from five different large language models, I have identified several key mechanisms that might explain the experiences described during the hangover phase.
Neurobiological Mechanisms of the Hangover Effect
1. GABA and Glutamate Modulation:
Alcohol enhances the activity of GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), an inhibitory neurotransmitter, leading to relaxation and reduced anxiety during consumption. As alcohol is metabolized, there may be a rebound effect where GABA activity remains elevated while glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter, normalizes or slightly increases. This balance can contribute to a temporary state of mental clarity and reduced mental chatter, which might be perceived as beneficial for individuals with ADHD, who often experience excessive neural activity and distractibility[1][2][3].
2. Dopamine System Effects:
Alcohol initially increases dopamine release, which is associated with feelings of pleasure and reward. During the hangover phase, there might be a recalibration of the dopamine system, potentially enhancing motivation and goal-directed thinking. This temporary boost in dopamine activity could help alleviate some of the reward deficiencies often observed in ADHD and depression[1][2][3].
3. Stress System Modulation:
Alcohol affects the brain's stress response system, including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and cortisol levels. The described sense of calm and reduced anxiety during the hangover phase might be related to temporary alterations in stress hormone levels, providing a brief respite from the chronic stress often experienced by individuals with anxiety disorders[1][2][3].
4. Neuroinflammatory Response:
There is evidence suggesting that alcohol induces a mild neuroinflammatory response. Interestingly, certain inflammatory processes can enhance cognitive function in the short term, which might contribute to the reported clarity and expansive thinking during the hangover phase[3].
5. Circadian Rhythm Disruption:
Alcohol significantly disrupts circadian rhythms, which can affect the regulation of neurotransmitters and hormones. These disruptions might contribute to the altered cognitive and emotional state experienced during a hangover[3].
6. Interoception and Bodily Awareness:
The sensation of being more present and whole in the body could be related to alcohol's lingering effects on brain regions involved in interoception, such as the insula. This enhanced bodily awareness might be perceived as a positive change during the hangover phase[3].
Conclusion
The hangover effect appears to result from a complex interplay of neurotransmitter systems, involving GABA, glutamate, dopamine, and the brain's stress response system. These interactions can temporarily alter cognitive and emotional states, leading to the described experiences of clarity, relaxation, and reduced mental chatter. I understand and emphasize that these effects are temporary and potentially harmful in the long term. For other readers, the risks associated with alcohol use, especially for individuals with mental health conditions, far outweigh any perceived short-term benefits.
Understanding these mechanisms can inform healthier interventions that mimic the beneficial aspects of these experiences without the negative consequences of alcohol use. Further research is needed to explore these interactions and develop sustainable therapeutic strategies.
Thank you for your engagement on this topic. I hope this summary provides a clearer understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of the hangover effect.
Generated by Perplexity Pro AI
Reviewed and edited by me, chasing-mental-clarity
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References:
1. Healthline: Hangover Anxiety: How to Deal with “Hangxiety”[1].
2. PubMed: Alcohol Hangover: Underlying Biochemical, Inflammatory and Mitochondrial Factors[3].
3. Healthline: ADHD and Alcohol: How They're Linked Plus Interactions & Risk[4].
Citations:
[1] www.healthline.com/health/hangover-anxiety
[2] ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws.com/web/direct-files/14465720/0c9cc838-8e8c-4946-aae4-a119f9731048/paste.txt
[3] pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30916313/
[4] www.healthline.com/health/adhd-and-alcohol
[5] www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2626918/
[6] www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5638093/
[7] www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00348/full
[8] www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/en/healthu/2018/12/27/what-happens-to-brain-drink-alcohol
[9] www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6761819/
Really interesting talk, thank you. I am on adderall for ADHD. I am 40 and definitely notice a more significant impact on mood even with moderate drinking.
You're welcome, and thank you for contributing your observations of your experiences with alcohol.
Thanks, really appreciate the information. I'm 49, ADHD and a problem drinker. I notice the dip you speak of when I have a drink after not drinking for a while. It really is a thing. I've never put it down to the effects of brain cell death though. I've always assumed it was alcohols effect on serotonin and dopamine. Is this not also a likely mechanism?
I'm not aware of any rigorous research on this, so my answer is mostly speculation. Most of my patients notice the dip in their mood starting the day following drinking, and continuing for a few days. If it was a more direct response to alcohol's disruption of serotonin and dopamine I would expect a faster onset and probably a faster recovery. The time course I described matches so closely with cell death related to alcohol exposure, but that doesn't prove that that is what is being experienced.
If only all ADHD people could be as successful as President Trump it would be a great world 🇺🇸
I'm now 19 weeks down the line from giving up alcohol. I find my brain is harder to control because it's not sedated and so runs a lot faster. The upside is that I'm able to learn how to control it better. Maybe things will be better once my learning has caught up and I can manage it better. Hasn't been a walk in the park so far but I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Interestingly I think what I'm experiencing now is exactly what caused me to start drinking in the first place. This time I'll take the other road at the fork and learn how to manage it without substance abuse.
wait depression and anxiety kills brain cells?
Shrinkage of the hippocampus, correlated with the length of time spent in depression or high levels of anxiety, is one of the most consistent findings in biological psychiatry. So yes, depression and anxiety kill brain cells. Fortunately, this is probably the area of the human brain (outside of the olfactory bulbs) with the greatest potential for recovery.
31 year old women adaha temper tantrums
Can i get rem sleep while im on paxil and ritalin?
Neither of these agents are likely to completely suppress REM sleep.
Boring
It's great that the message already makes sense to you.
@@DrJohnKruse I have add im an alcoholic i feel better on speed