Is There a Biological Link Between Anti-Depressants and the Effects of Alcohol on the Body?

The ‘self-medication hypothesis’ is commonly known to refer to a human behaviour which sees people with depression turn to alcohol as a way of coping. New research published in the journal Nature Communications has now discovered a biological basis for this theory.

Drugs such as ketamine have previously been found to inhibit NMDA receptors and subsequently alleviate symptoms of depression, sometimes within as little as two hours. Because alcohol is believed to have the same effect on NMDA activity, the team behind the project set out to test whether it may also act as an anti-depressant.

Using laboratory mice, the researchers claim to have found a “common molecular paradigm” for alcohol and rapid-acting anti-depressants. The team leader stresses, however, that the conclusion reached should under no circumstances be used to justify the promotion of alcohol as an alternative form of treatment.

Click here to read the full article in Nature and Communications.