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Alcohol and the sexes: Men tend to drink when they’re angry, while women feel more depressed after a night out

  • Alcohol was found to be consistently ineffective at drowning sorrows
  • Study found that monitoring emotions could play an important role in treating and preventing relapse in alcoholics

By
Rachel Reilly


PUBLISHED:

12:14 EST, 29 July 2013

|

UPDATED:

18:33 EST, 29 July 2013

A person’s gender affects when they drink and how they feel the morning-after-night-before, according to new research.

A study has found that men tend to drink when they feel angry and women experience more depressive emotions the day after drinking.

Scientists found that alcohol was consistently ineffective at drowning sorrows however.

The gender divide: The study found that men and women have different emotional relationships with alcohol.

The gender divide: The study found that men and women have different emotional relationships with alcohol. Experts believe their findings could help treat people who struggle with drink in the future

Valerie Harder, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont and lead author of the study, said ‘These male-female differences are consistent with several reports showing that men and women respond differently to stress, and experience mood and substance use disorders at different rates.’

To understand people’s moods and drinking
habits, Professor Harder and her colleagues used an interactive voice-recording
program like the ones found in call centres.

The 246
study participants, aged between 21 and 82, were problem drinkers who had been flagged by their primary-care
doctor.

The suspected alcoholics then went through an alcohol
treatment program and were called in every day for six months
and reported their moods, stress level and drinking habits on the program.

The results revealed that for men, it was anger that fuelled drinking.

According to the study, a man who felt angry was more likely to
drink the next day than a man who did not feel angry.

Man angry

depressed woman

The study found that men were more likely to turn to drink if they were angry. Women on the other hand were found to become far more depressive after drinking a large quantity of alcohol

Professor Harder said: ‘Working on strategies for male drinkers to manage their anger may warrant special emphasis in alcohol treatment approaches [in the future].

‘Furthermore, results from a recent study of relapse after alcohol use treatment suggest that targeting the relationship between [negative emotions such as anger] and alcohol use
could decrease the probability of relapse, thus improving alcohol treatment outcomes.’

Happiness and sadness were also recorded in the study.

While researchers found that neither emotion acted as a particular trigger for drinking in one gender over the other, they did discover that they did surface after drinking.

Professor Harder and her colleagues presumed that people would report less anger and sadness after drinking, and more happiness a day after drinking. But the data showed the exact opposite.

Both men and women reported feeling less happy the day after drinking, but the effect was much stronger for women.

The researchers said the findings could play an important role in developing new treatment approaches toward alcoholism and relapse prevention.

Professor Harder said the findings could be useful in the doctor’s office and at home – people who feel alcohol improves their mood may want to pay attention to how they feel the day after drinking.

And rather than simply asking about the number of drinks a person has in a week, doctors could also ask patients about their moods before and after their drinking.

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The comments below have not been moderated.

A glass of wine helps me read these banal reports from the DM, last night was working mums are so mean to childless ladies working hours and tonight it’s depression…. Men drink because they’re angry, really?

Sosowrong….
,

England,
30/7/2013 00:27

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Another pointless survey with a tiny subject base and sweeping statements. Waste of money carrying it out and waste of time reading it.

Lurch
,

Palma de Mallorca,
30/7/2013 00:19

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utter rubbish!

Ken
,

Northampton, United Kingdom,
29/7/2013 23:31

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sex drugs and alcohol is the breeding ground of the devil as he wants people to loosen up and free their minds from the consciousness that it is caught in. It is the consciousness of love that holds the highest moral ground. Drugs and alcohol is the mind trying to escape the reality of its suffering.

Jesuis
,

Reading,
29/7/2013 23:22

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Maybe just maybe… Most of us have a drink because we ENJOY it!!!!!!!

Emily Jane
,

Northants England the world!!,
29/7/2013 23:20

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When when will the DM get new columnists?

Yolo
,

Ontario Canada,
29/7/2013 22:50

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It would appear that whoever wrote the headline was pretty drunk at the time of writing it. Either that, or they should be sacked on the grounds of not being able to construct a sentence properly. There’s a ‘when when’ in there…geez…can’t anybody write anymore?

DownTheRightWing
,

Cardiff, United Kingdom,
29/7/2013 22:40

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when i was drinking the next morning id feel low. so it is a depressant. everything must be in balance.

meh
,

somewhere,
29/7/2013 22:29

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Don’t think I’ve ever drank because am angry. I wouldn’t want to drink either, alcohol obviously won’t calm me down.

Ryan94
,

Liverpool,
29/7/2013 22:18

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Interactive voice recording………..is someone kidding me?

colinius
,

Rayleigh, United Kingdom,
29/7/2013 22:13

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