There can come a point where the first drink doesn’t just feel good. It feels like something in us has started working properly again.
We feel less edgy, our head settles, the tension drops and we can finally stop thinking about the next drink. So of course alcohol starts looking useful.
But why were we feeling so unsettled before we had it? And why did we need more alcohol than we used to just to get back to the same place?
A lot of this comes down to what repeated drinking does to our brain chemistry.
What alcohol changes
Our brain is sending messages all day. They affect things like mood, sleep, motivation, how alert we feel and how strongly we react to stress.
Alcohol gets in the middle of that. At first, it slows parts of the system down, which is why we might feel calmer, looser or less bothered.
If we drink heavily and regularly, our brain starts adjusting around the alcohol. That’s the homeostasis trap. Our body is trying to keep things balanced while alcohol keeps pushing the system in one direction.
And those adjustments don’t disappear the moment the alcohol wears off.
Why calm can turn into anxiety
Two of the main ones involved are GABA and glutamate. GABA helps slow brain activity down, while glutamate helps keep us alert and switched on. We need both, and our brain normally keeps them in balance.
Alcohol pushes the slowing side harder and holds back some of the stimulating side. That can feel like relief while we’re drinking.
But when this keeps happening, our brain starts trying to balance it out. The slowing side doesn’t have the same effect, while the stimulating side starts working harder.
Then the alcohol level starts falling. The sedating effect wears off, but that extra stimulation can still be there. We might feel anxious, restless, shaky, sweaty or unable to sleep. Our heart might feel as though it’s working harder and our thoughts can start racing.
Another drink can calm that feeling for a while. And that’s how alcohol can get credit for fixing a problem it helped create.
Why normal life can start feeling flat
Dopamine is involved in motivation, learning and reward. It helps our brain remember what felt worth doing again.
It’s one reason alcohol can feel so rewarding. After we repeat the same drinking pattern enough times, our brain starts paying more attention to alcohol and the things connected with it.
That could be a certain time, a glass, the end of work, a particular shop or the feeling of being stressed. The thought of drinking can turn up before we’ve made any real decision.
At the same time, everyday things might not feel as rewarding. Finishing a job, eating a good meal or having a quiet evening can seem dull beside the quick change alcohol gives us.
So we drink for a lift, then feel flatter without it. And that flatness can make the next drink seem even more necessary.
Serotonin isn’t a simple happiness switch
Serotonin is often called the happiness chemical, but it’s nowhere near that simple. It’s involved in mood, sleep, appetite and plenty of other things too.
Alcohol can interfere with the way serotonin works. It isn’t as simple as alcohol switching happiness on and then off again.
Our mood might be less steady. We could feel more irritable, flat or anxious, especially as the alcohol wears off or after a poor night’s sleep.
And because another drink can change how we feel quickly, we blame ourselves for the low mood and give alcohol the credit for the relief.
How tolerance and dependence can start developing
As our brain adapts, the same amount of alcohol has less effect. So we pour more, start earlier or choose something stronger.
The alcohol hasn’t become weaker. Our brain has just got used to functioning with it there.
That can look like being able to handle our alcohol. But what it really means is that our brain has had to adjust to repeated drinking.
As alcohol wears off, we could notice withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, shaky, sweaty, sick or just not right. By this point, physical dependence could already be developing.
That discomfort doesn’t prove alcohol helps. Another drink might only be easing a reaction alcohol helped create and keeping the same cycle going.
The brain can start recovering
Those changes don’t mean our brain is ruined. It adapted to alcohol, and it can keep adapting when alcohol is gone.
Once alcohol is safely out of the picture, some of the changes caused by heavy drinking can improve over time. How quickly that happens is different for everyone, and it might take months rather than days.
We might notice clearer thinking, steadier moods or better sleep. Other times, the early period can feel rough while the brain and body are adjusting.
That rough feeling isn’t proof that alcohol was helping us. It can be part of the reason alcohol had started feeling necessary in the first place.
And as our brain starts to heal, it gets a chance to handle sleep and stress better without alcohol constantly getting in the middle. Everyday things can start feeling rewarding again too.
So yes, alcohol might have changed the chemistry. That doesn’t mean the chemistry can’t change again.
— Brent