• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

FHE Health | Inpatient Rehab & Mental Health Facility in Florida Homepage

Drug, Alcohol and Mental Health Treatment

ContactCareers

Call for Immediate Help (833) 596-3502

MENUMENU
  • About
        • About FHE Rehab
          • About FHE Health
          • Our Staff
          • Locations We Serve
          • Testimonials
        • Our Campus
          • Gallery
          • Our Videos
          • The Health and Wellness Center at FHE Health
        • Our Locations
          • Alcohol Rehab
          • Detox Center
          • Drug Rehab
          • Mental Health Center
          • Outpatient Rehab
        • Careers at FHE Health
          • Employment Opportunities
        • Our Expertise
          • Accreditations
          • Educational Opportunities
          • Community Impact Award
          • First Responder Families Podcast
          • First Responder Paws
          • Education Scholarship
  • Addiction
        • Treatment Programs
          • Treatment Program Overview
          • Alcohol Addiction
          • Drug Addiction Treatment
          • Behavioral Addiction
        • Levels of Care
          • Continuum of Care
          • Addiction Detox
          • Inpatient Addiction Treatment
          • Outpatient Addiction Treatment
        • What We Treat
          • Alcoholism
          • Amphetamines
          • Benzodiazepines
          • Cocaine
          • Heroin
          • Opioids
          • Sedative
  • Mental Health
        • Mental Health Rehab
          • Mental Health Rehab
          • Onsite Psychiatric Care
          • Dual Diagnosis
        • Levels of Care
          • Residential Mental Health Care
          • Outpatient Mental Health Care
        • What We Treat
          • ADD & ADHD
          • Anxiety Disorders
          • Bipolar Disorder
          • Depression
          • Eating Disorders
          • Personality Disorders
          • PTSD
          • Schizophrenia
          • Substance Use Disorder
          • Trauma
  • Programs
        • FHE Programs
          • Specialty Program Overview
          • Restore (Mental Health)
          • Empower! (Women's Program)
          • Shatterproof FHE Health(First Responders)
          • Compass Program
        • Support Programs
          • Alumni
          • Family Support
        • Therapies
          • Acupuncture
          • Breathwork Therapy
          • CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
          • DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy)
          • EMDR Therapy
          • Expressive Arts Therapy
          • Individual Therapy
          • Group Therapy
          • Gambling Therapy
          • Massage
        • Medical Care
          • Medical Integration
          • Ketamine Infusion
          • IV Vitamin
          • Fitness & Nutrition
          • Medication-Assisted Treatment
          • Medication Management
        • NeuroRehab Services
          • Neuro Rehabilitation
          • Neurofeedback Training
          • Neurostimulation Therapy
          • EEG Brain Mapping
          • Insomnia Treatment for PTSD
  • Resources
        • FHE Guides
          • Understanding Drug Abuse
          • Signs of Addiction
          • The Disease of Addiction
          • Confronting Addiction
          • Staging an Intervention
          • Rehab Success Rate – Does It Really Work?
          • Withdrawal Timelines
          • Life After Rehab
          • LGBTQ+ Community Resources
          • Veteran Resources
          • FHE Podcasts
          • Remote Resources Toolkit
        • Learning Center
          • Help for You
          • Help For Loved Ones
          • Help For Alcoholism
          • Help With Substance Abuse
          • Behavioral & Mental Health
          • Life in Recovery
          • Rehab Explained
          • Addiction Statistics
          • Our Research Articles
          • View All Articles
        • The Experience Blog
          • Addiction News
          • Alumni
          • Community Events
          • Expert Opinions
          • FHE Commentary
          • FHE News
          • Treatment Legislation
          • View All Articles
  • Admissions
        • Insurance
          • Blue Cross Insurance
          • Beacon Health / Value Options Insurance
          • Cigna Insurance
          • Humana Insurance
          • TRICARE Insurance
        • Admissions
          • Steps to Addiction Help
          • Will Insurance Cover Behavioral Treatment?
          • Self-Pay Rehab
        • FAQ
          • Keeping Your Job in Rehab
          • Example Day in Rehab
        • Contact Admissions
          • Contact Us
          • Secure Payment Form
  • Contact
  •  
Home > Learning > Alcoholism > Drinking to Death: The Close Relationship Between Alcohol and Suicide

August 13, 2019 By Kristina Robb-Dover

Drinking to Death: The Close Relationship Between Alcohol and Suicide

Drinking to Death - the relationship between alcohol and suicide

What happens when someone struggling with anxiety, depression or another mental health condition takes part in problem drinking behaviors as a way to escape? According to the evidence, their risk of suicide is never higher than it is in this case.

Let’s examine some of the stats:

Reported by the New York Times, a Centers for Disease Control study found that alcohol was found in the bloodstream of about 1 of every 3 suicide victims (at least where that information was made public).

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that in places where the minimum legal age to consume alcohol was lower, the suicide rate for young adults was higher.

Heavy drinkers are five times more likely to attempt suicide than light or social drinkers, according to one study.

Clearly, the link between drinking alcohol and thoughts or attempts of suicide is stronger than we might have previously thought. Here is a discussion of why this connection exists, and why it’s so important to get help with your mental health struggles or addiction.

The Inherent Effects of Alcohol

Involvement of Alcohol in Suicides

The answer to why alcohol seems to activate suicidal tendencies lies in the classification of the substance.

Alcohol is a depressant, meaning that it suppresses functions of the central nervous system and allows the user to dissociate from their life. This is why many people drink to escape grief, pain, guilt and other negative emotions. Unfortunately, these negative emotions are also tied in with mental illness, and consumption of alcohol can worsen depression.

An article from The Guardian explains the complex way in which we interact with alcohol. For many struggling with depression, the influence of alcohol can produce immediate euphoria. This can be a welcome relief when someone is feeling hopeless.

After this initial burst of good feelings, however, alcohol makes us feel worse than we did before. Experts suggest the cause may be that the symptoms of alcohol intoxication are very similar to those of depression and may make it feel like the depression is worsening the more we drink.

But depression is one thing, and suicide is another. In the United States, 16% of the population suffers from depression, a rate higher than the U.S. suicide rate. What makes some people turn to suicide when they consume alcohol?

Changes to Impulsive Tendencies (Short-Term)

Alcohol is proven to worsen impulsive behavior due to its effect on the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that controls executive functions, including common sense and short-term decision-making. This can lower the barriers to doing something difficult, and there’s more of a chance a person will act on a decision that they would spend more time thinking about if they weren’t under the influence.

Nearly everyone who has experimented with alcohol understands what it’s like to wake up after a night of drinking and learn that they made a choice they’d never make while sober.

The Effects of Alcoholism on Decision-Making (Long-Term)

Over time, alcoholism affects decision-making, probably due more to a change in self-esteem than acute changes in brain function. Addictive substances literally change the way the brain functions, rewiring a person’s risk/reward system.

This changes the person’s behavior and the factors they prioritize when making decisions. It may lead them to care about nothing else but the next high (or drunk), and in between these periods of escapism, experience intense lows.

Becoming Suicidal When Drunk

Suicidal thoughts when not under the influence are often manageable. The CDC claims that in 2013, over 9 million U.S. adults reported having suicidal thoughts. Many even planned their suicide.

A large number of these people don’t follow through with it. They get professional help and realize that there are better ways to cope. They think through the pros and cons of their actions and decide that they still have things to offer the world.

For most people, there’s a sizable channel in between thoughts of suicide and putting plans into action.

The problem is that alcohol lowers inhibition. Long-term consumption rewires the decision-making center of the brain. That space between thinking about suicide and actually doing it shrinks, and someone who is both drunk and experiencing suicidal thoughts may make an impulse decision to end their life.

Using Alcohol as a Vehicle for Suicide

Becoming more suicidal when drunkIt’s true: More Americans are drinking themselves to death than ever before, but liver disease from heavy drinking isn’t the same thing as purposely drinking enough to die in a single session.

Suicide by alcohol overdose is a lot less common. According to the CDC, six people per day die of an alcohol overdose (alcohol poisoning) in the United States.

The problem, however, is that it’s nearly impossible to distinguish those who did this on purpose from those who did it by accident. Say you had someone close to you who was depressed and died from alcohol poisoning. How can you tell if it was meant to be a way to take their life or just the consequences of heavy drinking to escape bad thoughts and feelings?

Suicide Using Alcohol in Combination with Other Substances

Prescription drugs are also commonly seen in overdose deaths, and there are likely more suicides in which both pain pills (opiates) and benzos and alcohol are the culprits. The CDC reports that 6.1 in 100,000 men died of an overdose involving prescription medications in 2017.

What’s the Solution?

As with many mental health issues, one of the keys to lowering the number of people who commit suicide while drinking alcohol is to raise awareness. Diseases like depression are extremely pervasive, and people suffering often turn to alcohol to self-medicate rather than seeking treatment.

FHE Health treats both substance use disorders like alcoholism and mental health conditions like depression with a specialized approach to co-occurring conditions. To learn more, contact FHE Health and help us prevent the growing epidemic of suicides in the United States.

Related Posts

  • Coping After Suicide: Resources for Family and Friends
    Coping After Suicide: Resources for Family and Friends
  • Coverage of Suicide
    How Media Coverage of Suicide Both Hurts and Helps the Mental Health Cause
  • Suicide and Mental Health - Diagnoses That Can Pose Risks
    Mental Health Diagnoses That Can Pose Risks of Suicide

Filed Under: Alcoholism

About Kristina Robb-Dover

Kristina Robb-Dover is a content manager and writer with extensive editing and writing experience... read more

Primary Sidebar

Learning Center

  • Help for You
  • Help For Loved Ones
  • Help For Alcoholism
  • Help With Substance Abuse
  • Behavioral & Mental Health
  • Life in Recovery
  • Rehab Explained
  • All Articles

Sign up for the Blog

Our Facilities

Take a look at our state of the art treatment center.

View Our Gallery

The Experience Blog

  • Addiction News
  • Alumni
  • Community Events
  • Expert Columns
  • FHE Commentary
  • FHE News
  • Treatment Legislation
  • All Articles

Footer

FHE Health

© 2025 FHE Health

505 S Federal Hwy #2,
Deerfield Beach, Florida 33441
1-833-596-3502
youtube facebook instagram linkedin twitter
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • AI Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
A+ BBB and Top Places to Work - Sun Sentinel

Copyright © 2025 · FHE Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}

The FHE Health team is committed to providing accurate information that adheres to the highest standards of writing. If one of our articles is marked with a ‘reviewed for accuracy and expertise’ badge, it indicates that one or more members of our team of doctors and clinicians have reviewed the article further to ensure accuracy. This is part of our ongoing commitment to ensure FHE Health is trusted as a leader in mental health and addiction care.

If there are any concerns about content we have published, please reach out to us at marketing@fhehealth.com.

833-596-3502

Text/Call Me