How Alcohol Affects OCD

Although drinking alcohol is a routine part of everyday life for many people, it can cause problems for OCD sufferers. OCD symptoms can feel less intense after drinking alcohol, but will usually return with a vengeance afterwards. In the vast majority of cases, relief from OCD symptoms is merely a temporary reprieve that becomes far worse than the original problems that you were trying to blank out.

How Can Drinking Alcohol Affect OCD Symptoms?

Drinking alcohol can help OCD symptoms to seem more manageable in the short term, but they can become much worse a day later. Some OCD sufferers find that their intrusive thoughts, images and impulses become extremely frightening and distressing after drinking alcohol.

OCD sufferers tend to crave control and order, and both of these are often much reduced after alcohol has been consumed. If anything shameful happens while “under the influence”, it can cause OCD sufferers a lot of distress. To counteract their feelings of shame and embarrassment, compulsive rituals are often stepped up in a bid to purge them.

Becoming Dependent on Alcohol

There is also the possibility that alcohol may be depended upon as a way of relieving OCD symptoms, even if this is only temporary. Because of this, drinking problems may occur, despite the “hangover” effects of alcohol that can make OCD symptoms worse during the next day.

If you drink alcohol on a regular basis, your tolerance levels can change. This usually means that you will have to drink more alcohol to have the same effect. In this way, it is easy to become addicted to alcohol, particularly if it allows you to blot out your OCD symptoms and the distress and anxiety that accompanies OCD in general. The fact that this is only a temporary distraction tends to be irrelevant to those who become dependent on alcohol, and they will usually be able to ignore the negative effects of drinking alcohol (such as hangover).

Alcohol and OCD Medication

As with many types of medication, alcohol can have an adverse affect on OCD medication. If you are taking OCD medication, you should read the accompanying leaflet thoroughly before drinking alcohol, as it can stop the medication from working properly. As you might expect, this can make OCD symptoms worse. It may also cause other complications, such as unpleasant side effects.

This can be particularly important for OCD sufferers who are taking anti-obsessional medication. Alcohol can cause intrusive obsessions to become more extreme than they would normally be, as well as making the medication less effective in the first place. For these reasons, mixing alcohol and OCD medication can have scary effects the following day.

The effects of alcohol can have a negative effect on OCD symptoms. While it may give some short term relief from OCD symptoms, the after effects of alcohol can make them far worse. If alcohol becomes depended upon too heavily as a way of reducing anxiety and distress, this result in drinking problems in addition to the OCD.

Alcohol often does not mix well with OCD medication, and can make it less effective. Because of this, you should read the leaflet carefully. Some types of medication will advise you to avoid alcohol while taking the medication due to possible side effects or a general lack of effectiveness if combined with alcohol.