"Happy" People Have 2 Drinks a Week?

A recent study published in the journal Addiction found that 17.3% of people who abstain from alcohol feel anxiety, and 15.8% reported being depressed. This is after they took into account the people who stopped drinking because they had a problem with alcohol. The "happiest" people were those who averaged about 2 alcoholic drinks a week. An alcoholic drink is defined as one beer, one glass of wine or a shot of hard liquor.

My purpose here is not to analyze the study itself although it poses some interesting theories about why they found what they found. I just found those statistics rather thought-provoking. My ex-counselor along with almost all mental health providers will tell you not to drink at all. When I asked why, I was told that (aside from increasing any drowsiness my meds might cause) the leading cause of death among the depressed is overdose, and that the leading cause of overdose was drinking. She said that those who drink forget that they've already taken their meds, so they take more.

I suppose I don't understand that because I have BP, not depression. When I have more than a few drinks I get manic and the last thing on my mind is "did I take my meds?" But even if I did take an extra dose of everything one night, it isn't going to kill me. Maybe there are depression drugs that would? Or maybe she was talking about people who abuse alcohol, subsequently taking more than their daily dose on a regular basis - toxicity builds up and they die?  

I'm not convinced that the main reason for death is people forgetting they took their meds already - that just sounds lame. I think the admonition not to drink is based on the fact that alcohol is a depressant. For people already suffering from depression, it makes sense that drinking means deeper depression and suicidal ideation which they're more likely to act on when they're drunk.

My ex-counselor's advice not to drink because I might take too many meds is just a minor example of why I quit going to see her. It was quite obvious that she either didn't remember I'd told her booze affects me like jet fuel, or that she didn't know that it commonly does in BP people.

I'd like to know - how does alcohol affect you? Does it make you manic or depressed, or do you just have a good time? Minus the hangover, of course...