According to Ronald Kessler, professor of healthcare policy at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, “You don’t have to be an alcoholic; just the fact that you’re disinhibited [lost your normal inhibitions due to the influence of alcohol or a drug] at the moment is enough- which is bad news.” While the temporary suspension of good judgment by alcohol or drugs is often thought of a secondary cause of death, Dr. Kessler found that when an individual is depressed, the use of alcohol or drugs often leads directly to the suicide attempt.ⁱ

Some sad or anxious people drink alcohol or use drugs to dull their emotional pain. What many of these individuals do not realize is that these drugs eventually worsen their moods and heighten suicidal thoughts. For years, therapists have recognized that using alcohol or drugs increases the risk or suicide. Thirty percent of suicide victims have alcohol in their bloodstream.ⁱⁱ Many healthy people die each year from suicide- people with absolutely no depression or mental illness. Often their only risk factor is the alcohol they consume.

New research confirms that being under the influence of a mind-altering substance is not associated with the planning of suicide, which is in agreement with the traditional assumption. However, it is closely associated with suicidal thoughts and unplanned attempts.ⁱⁱⁱ These thoughts and attempts can be the result of consuming only “moderate” quantities of alcohol. Thus, my recommendation is complete abstinence from alcohol for those who are healthy as well as for those who are suffering from a mental illness such as depression.

The news media is preoccupied with promoting the use of alcohol “in moderation.” They widely report any study showing that moderate alcohol consumption decreases the risk of heart disease, but when studies such as Dr. Kessler’s are released, the media remain strangely silent. Their reports fail to acknowledge that alcohol use in moderation not only increases the risk of death by suicide but also increases the risk of accidental death, homicide, death attributable to cancer, hepatitis C, and a host of other causes.

How can the media be silent on these evident disadvantages, while touting the advantages of a potentially lethal substance well documented as the third leading cause of death in America?^iv Could it be advertising dollars? More complete information on the dangers or moderate alcohol consumption is available in Proof Positive.^v

This important information about alcohol and suicide underscores the significance of legislative policy. Many states have wisely increased the legal drinking age from 18 to 21, but some groups are calling on federal government to demand a reversal of this decision. Studies show that this would increase the annual number of suicides by approximately 125 among 18-to-20-year-olds, who would not have attempted it without available alcohol.^vi Beyond the lives lost from suicide, alcohol takes a greater number of lives from homicides and accidents in this same age group.

You might ask, “If alcohol is not good for a 20-year-old, why is it good for a 21-year-old, or a 40-year-old, or even a 70-year-old?” I believe it is important to teach each generation to objectively examine the advantages of abstaining from alcohol. This knowledge can go a long way toward reducing the experience of misery, disease, and death worldwide.

Alcohol is not the only mind-altering substance that increases the risk of suicide. In Chapter 6 we mention that antidepressant drugs like SSRIs (select serotonin reuptake inhibitors), and even the herb Kava-Kava, increase the possibility of suicide, but recent research also shows that some stimulant drugs equally increase suicide risk.^vii This connection will be explored in Chapter 9 in relation to the frontal lobe of the brain. Abstinence from any mind-altering drug should be recommended, especially for those who have additional suicide or depression risk factors.