Writer: Mia McDonald Rose
Editor: Haytham Malik
Artist: Meera Maniar
For young people, choosing sobriety is fundamental to mental health recovery.
When I tell people I don’t drink alcohol – often when refusing a drink – they tend to be curious. “Like at all?” or “how come?” is how it typically goes. When I explain that drinking aggravates my mental health, people often resonate, even revealing their own struggles when mixing alcohol with depression or anxiety.
Statistics show that an increasing number of young people between 12-19 are reducing their alcohol intake, with the “potential for alcohol-related harm” being the predominant reason. This encompasses chronic harms to both physical and mental health, suggesting that the shift towards sobriety is partly driven by a desire to safeguard mental health.
A Troubling Association
Long-standing clinical evidence supports a link between common mental disorders (CMDs), like anxiety or depression, and alcohol use disorder (AUD), a specific subtype of substance use disorder (SUD) described as an individual’s uncontrolled or over-consumption of alcohol. AUD is frequently diagnosed alongside CMD in both adolescents and adults. This association is bi-directional, exposing a dangerous cycle in which poor mental health increases the likelihood of AUD and vice versa.
What’s more, research tells us that students in higher education are more susceptible to symptoms of common mental disorders (CMDs) such as anxiety or depression, with one study showing a positive association at 18–19 years. With AUD often underdiagnosed, this raises a crucial question: could younger students be particularly at risk of both AUD and CMD?
Understanding the Effects of Alcohol
The approaches students adopt to “let loose” are not always healthy, and alcohol might be one of the more detrimental strategies. Living and studying in England is a privileged position, but for many, heavy drinking is a defining social ritual within England’s student community. This can lead to trouble. For me, university socials were often alcohol-fuelled, offering a brief, deceptive calm from academic pressure and mental health challenges – until the next day, when an inevitable crash of emotion would send me into a deeper struggle. This vicious cycle was a reality I was slow to confront.
The effects of alcohol can temporarily relieve CMD symptoms such as low mood or irritability. Because alcohol is rapidly absorbed in the gut, its relief is immediate, and it is often used as a means of “self-medication”. As a neurological agent, alcohol acts as a sedative and anaesthetic to the central nervous system, triggering the release of dopamine and serotonin to induce a sense of disinhibition and euphoria. However, this relaxing effect is temporary. When the drinking stops and withdrawal begins, the brain scrambles to mitigate the imbalance of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters, leading to symptoms like anxiety, delirium, and depression.
Integrated Recovery
“I’ve been depressed all weekend because I drank so much,” admits a fellow UCL student, describing it as an “extended hangover, but it’s depression.” Another student confided that they think about cutting down “every day” to prioritise their mental health, acknowledging that the social aspect of drinking, not the alcohol itself, was what improved her mood.
While the comorbidity of CMDs and AUD is extensively documented in scientific literature, this understanding has not translated to the general population as effectively as the links between smoking and lung cancer, or obesity and type 2 diabetes. Another student shared, “It’s interesting that you’ve said about the link [between drinking and mental health], but when I spoke to psychiatrists they didn’t understand that”.
The path to recovery is fraught with challenges. It not only involves confronting ongoing and episodic symptoms, but also disrupts life trajectories, social relationships, and leads to often stigmatising reactions from others, which can in itself be mentally taxing. To effectively treat these concurrent conditions, it is clear that we cannot address one condition while ignoring the other.
72% of adults starting treatment for alcohol abuse in England report a concurrent need for mental health treatment. By treating substance abuse without tending to the corresponding mental health needs, patients may drop out of treatment or relapse. At UCL, services such as psychological therapy are available from the Changing Unwanted BEhaviour (CUBE) Clinic, which can be found through support services on the first floor of the student centre.
My Experience
My decision to opt for total abstinence was the first step in my mental health recovery and was influenced by the reflections of sober family members and the steadfast support of my friends. In CMD and AUD treatment, narrative experiences of personal recovery are proven to enhance problem recognition and elevate quality of life. Sobriety represents a highly personal and diverse reality for each individual. Therefore, sharing your own experience may offer guidance to others struggling with alcoholism and mental health, while also challenging the stigma that surrounds AUD.
Even though avoiding heavy drinking may sometimes bring feelings of social detachment, the short-term negatives are far outweighed by the long-term positives. This is reflected by the rising number of people staying sober. The process of gaining control over substance use alleviates anxiety stemming from alcohol-induced missteps, and protects you from the depressive state caused by hangovers. Effective recovery from AUD promotes a sense of agency and self-confidence, paving the way for improved cognitive function and goal achievement that nurtures broader mental wellbeing.
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