Women who give up alcohol improve their mental health

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Women living a life without alcohol improve their mental health

Women drink for many reasons: to relax, relieve themselves after a long day of work and / or parenting, or to socialize with friends. New research shows that women living alcohol-free lives improve their mental health and overall well-being by dropping these daily glasses of wine.

The study, published this week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, suggests that limiting your drinking – or quitting at the same time – is more helpful than drinking a glass or two of wine when you're stressed. .

A new study concludes that quitting can be linked to a significant improvement in mental health – in women. For men, the difference was "not statistically significant". https://t.co/WIjvjdmTL1

– Nancy Chen (@NancyChenNews) July 10, 2019

Throughout the study, researchers analyzed the consumption patterns and mental health levels of more than 10,000 people in Hong Kong and more than 31,000 in the United States. In both groups, men and women who completely abstained from drinking alcohol while living sober lives recorded the highest levels of mental well-being.

"Our findings suggest that moderate alcohol consumption could improve health-related quality of life," said Herbert Pang, one of the co-authors of the study and assistant professor at the University of Toronto. School of Public Health of the University of Hong Kong. TODAY & # 39; HUI. In fact, not drinking at all can be a better way to feel calm and peaceful, says another co-author, Michael Ni.

"When people become sober, they often feel calmer, their anxiety decreases and their irritability decreases. They just say, "Wow, it's a better place to be," said Dr. James C. Garbutt, Professor of Psychiatry at the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies at the University of North Carolina, TODAY & # 39; HUI.

Notably, it was the women who stopped drinking who reported the highest levels of mental well-being. Although researchers have not clarified why sober women have responded more favorably than sober men, they suggest that alcohol abstinence reduces stressors in life, such as family problems.

This is interesting, as many women probably drink a glass of wine at the end of the day to help reduce the heavy invisible workload they carry as the main emotional workers in the family.

Alcohol relieves anxiety, but only temporarily. It also acts as a depressant, which activates the brain systems that aggravate anxiety after the first calming effect. According to AddictionCenter.com, drinking alcohol to feel positive effects such as anxiety or stress relief can lead to addiction.

This leads people to drink more – or faster – to compensate for what they do not feel right away. It is easy to see how regular and moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages can affect mental and physical health.

Interestingly, during a follow-up with subjects, women who stopped drinking during the study reported a greater improvement in their mental health than those who were abstinent throughout their lives.