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New York, 1:26 AM
Tue Nov 10
67 posts in the last 24 hours
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08/31/09
08/31/09
But I think drinking is one of those issues where it is very hard to compare across cultures. Drinking is very culturally linked and it seems pretty unlikely that drinking protects against depression.
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That said, I can't wait to get on the train home so I can drink my cup of wine.
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08/31/09
As for abstainers, I've found that most people I know who don't drink do so because of strong religious beliefs or because a close family member is alcoholic. Certainly there are other reasons why someone might not want to, but both of those reasons could be correlated with depression. Having a close family member as an alcoholic could certainly spill over into your life, and lead to some depression. And with religion, it could easily work in either direction--either some people with strong religious beliefs might feel overwhelmed and depressed by the demands their religion makes on them, or those who are depressed could be drawn to oppressive religions (buying into the "God will solve your problems" bit). Obviously this is all quite a bit oversimplified, and there are certainly other reasons why this might be the case, but it certainly makes sense for the people I know.
08/31/09
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09/01/09
I wasn't talking about religion in general--I buy that people who are moderately religious are happy, but that doesn't mean people who follow the more oppressive interpretations of religion necessarily are--and those that forbid drinking tend to be on the more oppressive end of the scale. Often, the more intense someone's religious beliefs are, the more they struggle with potential doubts about their faith or rules they don't understand/don't agree with/have trouble following, which can definitely contribute to depression. Those who are moderately religious tend to take their doubts or problems with doctrine in stride and have less anxiety over them.
Plus, Norway being "one of the least religious countries on earth" certainly doesn't mean that it has no religious people in it. There are still plenty of people there who take their religion seriously, and there are definitely some religious groups there who push abstention from alcohol as a part of their platform.
08/31/09
I wonder if it's because if you're a moderate drinker you're more likely to be with others and be drinking socially. Moderate drinkers drink at bars, dinner parties, ball games, camping trips, etc. And being more socially engaged seems like a reasonable explanation for being less likely to be depressed. Maybe.
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