A science blog with Eric Berger

People who don’t drink are more depressed than those who do?



The authors believe their findings (see abstract) support the idea that in societies where moderate use of alcohol is the norm, abstinence may be associated with being socially marginalized, or particular personality traits that may also be associated with mental illness. In other words, you’re not cool if you don’t drink.


Good for the mind and body?

From a news release:


Using this data the authors were able to show that those individuals who reported drinking no alcohol over a two week period were more likely than moderate drinkers to report symptoms of depression. Those individuals who additionally labelled themselves as “abstainers” were at the highest risk of depression.


Those who abstained from alcohol were about 50 percent more likely to be depressed than those who consumed a moderate amount of alcohol. That strikes me as a startlingly high number.

In Britain, apparently, teetotalers are considered pariahs. So maybe societal attitudes toward non-drinkers really are to blame.

If so, that’s a shame.

Categories: Health
Eric Berger

33 Responses

  1. A21CAV says:

    I was curious about the ones in the study who went two weeks without. Were they moderate drinkers to begin with? Also, did they have to watch the control group enjoying the occasional beer/wine/cocktail? That in itself might be depressing. Unfortunately the above link to the abstract has an expired cookie session message. (Does that mean all of the chocolate chips landed on one side?) It is sad that teetotalers are considered pariahs because they are such fun to mess with when one has a three beer buzz going. I am happy to report that I am unlikely to be either depressed or dumb because, after all, Bud does make one weiser.


  2. A21CAV says:

    Another point. Has anyone ever known a Norwegian, born, raised and living in Norway, who wasn’t already just a bit off? In my own entirely scientific study of my two good Norwegian friends (sorry, my pals) they are definitely a “bit” off.

  3. Old Gringo Stan says:

    I pity alcoholics. I was lucky growing up, 2 or 3 beer’s after work made me hungry. I would go eat, they would drink till the establishment closed. They are all dead. I still have my beer every afternoon before supper…….

  4. IANVS says:

    Let’s all run down to the local wineries for some fermentation… I mean, experimentation.

  5. Hank Jones says:

    This is hardly a surprise. After a couple of beers with some friends in a nice pub I can feel layers of stress falling off.

  6. gabriellyn says:

    I think any time you are left out of a group it can cause depression. However if you are hanging out with a group that doesn’t drink, then I think the effects will be mitigated, since you follow the same behavior as the rest of the group. Shockingly, no Katy reference yet. Here’s one: If I decide not to drink with my friends does that mean I should evacuate from Katy?Ugh. Really lame. Maybe it will improve after a mojito.

  7. chaz says:

    I’ll drink to that! (Just had to say it)

  8. mcobbit says:

    You’all leave poor Katy alone. She has suffered enough. Unless its a really good one…Eric, was the study set in Norway or Britain?

  9. The Mouth of the Yellow River Group says:

    Ni Hao! Kannichi Wa!Microbiologically fermented liquids resulting in diverse percentages of C2H6O, CH3CH removed from our dihydroxy oxygenated base was the first and the most experimentally tried and tested recreational beverage or extract from the dawn of man. One less C2(H2/3), as alcohol or ether does not have the relatively benign window of historically proven dose related balance of positive and negative effects.It is an underrated contributor to the evolution of Homo sapiens culture and a never ending focus of ignorant sociopolitical agendas the most extreme being Prohibition in the USA and front organizations like MADD.Member MOTYR Group

  10. Everitt Mickey says:

    Just a guess but based on life long observation I’d say that the blue laws in texas regarding alcohol sales (dry counties) accomplish exactly the opposite of what was intended.

  11. TomTom1978 says:

    The key is MODERATION!!!!

  12. Sampson Simpson says:

    I’d much rather smoke a bowl of dro. I bet I won’t beat my wife or kids after a smoke. Only thing I’ll be beating up is the fridge.

  13. Juan says:

    These findings brought to you by Bacardi. (Please drink responsibly)

  14. Carlos says:

    Great… Now I can use this information on my DWI case to show the judge I’m depress!

  15. Gary says:

    I tried the abstainers route for about ten years and noticed the exact experience to which the article refers. Your friends taper off and one would be surprised at the number of adult functions (short of church socials) that involve alcohol. Then there’s the explanations when a drink is offered and the slight embarrasment on the part of the host and yourself.

    If a person is alcoholic however, this would be the better alternative.

  16. Dean Becker says:

    I don’t drink, ever and I’m not depressed, (hardly ever, even a little bit).

    Why do you encourage drunks to think their habit is cool, to be continued, “for health reasons?”


  17. sambo says:

    Stay thirsty my friends!

  18. Robin says:

    I can’t tell you the number of friends I had who moved North after college only to swear the short days and cold weather of winter drove them to drink more than they ever had. (Considering we were just out of college, that’s saying something.) :-)

    No joke… I wonder if the study being Norway has something to do with the results.

  19. justamom says:

    correlation doesn’t equal causation…

    100% of all people who have died have at some point in their life ingesting hydrogen dioxide. that stuff, apparently, is associated with people dying.

    But just saying that all people who died have drunk water at some point in life does NOT mean that stopping drinking it means you won’t die.

    Similarly, saying that drinking is associated with not-depression doesn’t mean you take all those depressed folks and give them a drink and voila, no more depression!

    zoiks.. this is science?!

  20. Tobias says:

    I don’t trust people who don’t drink. Unless it’s for medical reasons.

  21. Michael Hardie says:

    Well, Mark Twain knew this a long time ago.

    Mr. Twain said, “Be good, and you’ll be alone.”

  22. Michael Hardie says:

    Another quote from an anonymous fellow went like this:

    “I’d rather a have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.”

  23. Babs says:

    It’s because drunks don’t realize they are depressed!

  24. LiveBuzzzJ says:

    Did anyone ask which liquor consortium paid for the study?

  25. Responding to Babs says:


    Ailments such as depression only fall within the abnormal spectrum because they are considered maladaptive behaviors. If someone does not feel depressed and is OK with their life, then there is not an illness…just a judgemental third party.

    Alcohol use (in moderation) is clearly a socially adaptive trait. The shared experience of alcohol-based intoxication takes the edge off of otherwise-awkward social situations. To abstain is essentially to choose not to participate in many functions of society…clearly not very adaptive if you happen to have a high need for social affection.

  26. born2asky says:

    I don’t have any problems with moderate drinking, but the information in this blog is wrong and dangerous. It was a SOCIAL study, not a body chemistry one. Sounds like self-reporting, too.

    I’m in the mental health field, and it is well known that alcohol, by it’s very nature, IS A DEPRESSANT. If a depressed person drinks, it can and more often will increase depression. That is a scientific fact.

  27. Old Gringo Stan says:

    MOTYR is depressed…….as usual

  28. Miz RD says:

    Isn’t it time that one of Houston’s fine bartenders created a cocktail called…the Katy? It would somewhat distant, not terribly complex, non-carbonated (in other words, flat), and served in a Hurricane glass.

  29. SAN says:

    Oh man.. shouldn’t have guzzled that last Katy. Feels like I’m gonna evacuate..

  30. KLT says:

    yah TomTom summed it up – Moderation is the key. (Unless of course a person struggles with alcoholism, in which case many doctors say that controlled drinking is not really possible, and the ‘moderation’ for a recovering alcoholic, means not drinking.)

    I can’t imagine why a host would try to force the issue and put a temptation like that in a person’s face if they decline a drink…that’s just mean to make someone who can’t drink feel like an outcast or a party pooper.

    If the host is a woman, and offers a glass of wine to a man (who happens to be the poetic cassanova type), he could always try and divert the issue by ripping a few lines from the Song of Solomon:

    “Thou has ravished my heart,…how much better is thy love than wine! Thy body is like a round goblet, Wherein no mingled wine is wanting…and thy mouth like the best wine, that goeth down smoothly for my beloved, gliding through the lips…”

    (of course I wouldn’t recommend saying that if the host is a man…unless you want a black eye)

    PS- IANVS if you’re debating which Temecula winery to visit – try Leonesse Cellars …I’ll bet the owners could teach you a thing or two, and more than just about wine. ;)

  31. Jim says:

    I don’t know any Norwegian scientists,

    but Garrison Keillor claimed to be Norwegian.

    They seem to be a gloomy, dry lot. He wrote

    ”Whose woods these are I think I know. / He got whacked half an hour ago.”

    Then we wonder why they drink.

  32. ttyler5 says:


    ” If I decide not to drink with my friends does that mean I should evacuate from Katy? ”

    It means you should be the one who does the driving!

  33. AJAY JASRA says:

    All those people hanged in India, have brushed their teeth every day…SO MY STUDY SAYS, that Brushing your teeth every day is dangerous…