Over the course of two years I have quit drinking after a near death experience, quit cigarettes, quit weed, started a solo music project and started working out in that order. Took this selfie yesterday in the middle of an 18 mile walk downtown. I feel amazing, it happened! I didn’t think it would.

People who drink too much are known to have health problems like liver damage and high blood pressure. On the other hand, drinking too much is bad for the brain in general.

Even people who don’t drink much or who haven’t had a lot to drink recently can have mental fog, anxiety, and mood swings. Alcoholism, binge drinking, and drinking for a long time can all cause serious and damaging changes in the brain that affect mood and how well it works. The good news is that if someone stops drinking, even if their brain has been messed up for years, it can start to heal and return to normal.

The frontal lobe grows back.

When you drink too much, the frontal lobe of the brain suffers a lot. This part of the brain is important for many things, like thinking, controlling behaviour, remembering, and moving. Years of heavy drinking can do a lot of damage to this part of the brain, causing problems like memory loss and not being able to think. In the early stages of recovery, people may still have these symptoms and find it hard to understand a lot of information. However, as time goes on, new cells will start to grow and repair the damage.

To fight addiction, you need to be able to think clearly and control your impulses. Luckily, these powerful mental skills will come back once you start to get better. Dopamine levels start to get back to normal. The brain’s dopamine levels get out of whack because of alcoholism.

Dopamine is released when you do things that make you feel good, like eating chocolate or playing sports. It tells your brain which actions to repeat and become addicted to.

The amount of dopamine in the brain goes up when someone drinks, but the number of dopamine receptors goes down. When you stop drinking for the first time, the lack of dopamine and fewer receptors may make you feel sad and down.

Too much or too little dopamine can be bad for you, but if you don’t drink, your brain will slowly get back to normal dopamine levels and reaction patterns.

Inspiration comes back

As was already said, you may have trouble with your mood and mental health in the beginning of recovery, but as your body and brain get better, you’ll feel more motivated than ever to keep up good habits.

This means you’ll be able to try new things to improve your mood and help your brain make new cells, like exercising more often.

Anyone in recovery from addiction may find the early stages of abstinence to be hard and tiring, but over time, a healthy and balanced brain will return, along with a sense of being more motivated to work toward positive goals.

More serotonin will be made.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that makes people feel happier and better about themselves. Alcohol may temporarily raise serotonin levels, but the long-term effects of drinking too much are usually a decrease in serotonin synthesis, which makes depression more likely.

If you stop drinking, your serotonin levels may return to normal over time. During your recovery, you may need to take medicine if you have signs of depression. If you take alcohol out of the picture, you can learn more about your mental health and figure out what you need to feel your best.