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Alcohol Fails for Mental Health Issues and Can Bring on Cancer

Dr. Patricia Farrell
3 min readOct 30, 2023

Mental health issues may drive people to alcohol abuse, but instead of helping, it increases the problems and may destroy health in the process.

Photo by Acton Crawford on Unsplash

Alcohol, that oil that greases and releases the wheels of inhibition and inserts poison into our bodies, continues to be a killer of the mind and a wrecker of the body. Still, each year, millions worldwide hear its siren song and are drawn to it in the hope that it will provide succor from emotional pain in a world spinning as never before.

Globally an estimated 237 million men and 46 million women suffer from alcohol-use disorders with the highest prevalence among men and women in the European region (14.8% and 3.5%) and the Region of Americas (11.5% and 5.1%). Alcohol-use disorders are more common in high-income countries.”

Many people view alcohol as a method to momentarily escape their troubles or soothe their nerves, and they utilize it as a coping mechanism for stress and anxiety. But this might set off a risky cycle in which drinking relieves tension and anxiety temporarily before eventually making things worse.

In an effort to self-medicate, depressed people may resort to alcohol in the hopes that it may improve their mood or offer momentary solace from their melancholy. Alcohol is unfortunately a depressant…

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Dr. Patricia Farrell
Dr. Patricia Farrell

Written by Dr. Patricia Farrell

Dr. Farrell is a psychologist, consultant, author, and member of SAG/AFTRA, interested in flash fiction writing (http://bitly.ws/S94e) and health.

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