If alcohol is classified as a depressant, why does drinking it put you in such a good mood?
For the same reason that heroin or morphine, which are depressants put you in a good mood. A depressant isn’t called that because it puts you in a bad mood…it’s called that because it depresses or slows body functions…your blood pressure goes down, your blood vessals dilate, your reaction time increases, etc.
Who says alcohol is a depressant? Where’s a citation to the teetotaling agency that made up this fiction?
This whole thread makes me depressed. Where’s my bottle of 100% pure Blackberry wine?
I don’t know about your blood vassals, Captain Amazing, but Blackberry wine certainly cheers all of mine up. 
One of alcohol’s initial effects is to depress the expression of certain anxieties- you feel better about yourself and less worried. Therefore you feel more socially skilled.
Unfortunately this is only an initial effect- later the same anxieties come back- hence the morose drunk. And you become considerably less socially skilled.
Long term high use of alcohol pre-disposes to clinical depression. Use of alcohol during a depressive illness tends to lengthen and increase the severity of that bout of illness.
Must go and get a beer (it’s seven pm here so the time is just right!).
Soon I’ll have fewer social anxieties;)
Alcohol first acts as a stimulant (in some ways) then acts as a depressant (in some ways). It’s really quite a fascinating little chemical.
New Scientist has a terrific section on their website devoted to alcohol.Link.
It is a central nervous system depressant, not an emotional depressant. You feel “good” because you can’t “feel” much of anything (or at least your nervous system is reacting so slowly that you may as well not have any feeling).
It feels good because it stimulates some of the same “reward” centers (in the brain) that drugs like heroin and similar drugs do. It also affects the same neurochemical system (GABA neurotransmission) that Valium and related drugs do, resulting in anxiolytic (anxiety-reducing) properties.
Here’s my theory, based purely on speculation. There is part of the brain/mind which has the job of anticipating problems and alerting the rest of your brain/mind about them. This is generally a Good Thing, since anticipating problems can help you avoid them. However, that part of the brain/mind is really annoying. Alcohol, according to my theory, depresses the function of that part of your brain/mind, helping you to feel good and relaxed.
Well, when alchohol reaches your brain, it seals some of the chemichal receptors on your nerve cells, which effectivly slows reaction time. as for the good feeling, the brain releases massive amounts of dopamine when you drink, which is naturally realeased when you do something that could increase the chances of your spiecies’ survival, ie. eating or having sex. dopamine is a natural high… it’s your brain’s way of saying, ya did good, buddy…
"The Encyclopedia Galactica notes that alcohol is a colorless, volatile liquid, and also notes its intoxicating effect on many carbon-based life forms.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy also mentions alcohol. It says the best drink in existence is the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. It lists how to make one, the best planets on which they are mixed, and several organizations to help you recover from having one.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy sells rather better than the Encyclopedia Galactica."
Alcohol is 96% sugar, albeit fermented. While nicotine is highly addictive, it is generally considered that the 5% sugar placed in every cigarette is the primary reactor which makes them so hard to quit. Haven’t you ever heard of a sugar crash? First you become irritable, and then you become numb and jello-like.
The more you use, the more you need to feel the same, because the receptors for ‘pleasure’ are slowly burned out… alcohol feels more like a stimulant, not only when you first drink it, but also when you first start it. The decay of those receptors takes time, and eventually will become so severe that a form of drug or risky behavior is always needed in order to trigger them at all. The depressiveness is more a side effect of accumulated wear and tear on the brain, rather than an effect from the first few years of drinking… Your ‘happiness’ is gaining tolorance, and the threshold to achieve it becomes wider and wider, and irreperable.
Have you ever seen the rest of a life that a 40 year alchoholic leads after they quit? It’s almost as sad as their bottoming out…
-Justhink
Justhink-“The depressiveness is more a side effect of accumulated wear and tear on the brain…”
If you look at the link that BlackKnight was kind enough to provide, you’ll see that people who drink alcohol appear to have superior brains. Maybe alcohol somehow improves brain functioning!