Since alcohol is a depressant, why does it make me happy when I drink it?Stimulant drugs also make you happy. But alas, alcohol is a depressant. It more or less acts as an inhibitory neurotransmitter. So, why happy?
Answer by mHawk56
It causes euphoria through some actions that are relatively unknown. We do know that it potientiates the actions of GABA, the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain. This is similar to the actions of Benzodiazepines like Valium and Xanax. While this is a paradoxical effect, it must be linked to an increase in release of dopamine, our "reward" NT. By allowing an increase in dopamine, it gives us the feeling of euphoria and also contributes to the addictive properties of alcohol.
Ethanol also has action to reduce the effects of Glutamate, our major excitatory NT, at NMDA receptors. It does have minor stimulatory effects, especially at low doses. This is why a beer may "perk you up." Through those actions, it may also be able to trigger dopamine release, but still, the overall actions of ethanol in the brain are unclear.
Answer by toxdoc333
The answer is unknown but there are several likely explanations. Many depressants, including alcohol have stimulatory effects at low doses. Alcohol increases motor activity (at low doses), relaxation, decreases inhibitions and causes a variety of subjective sensations that if not different from normal (and therefore interesting) are pleasurable. The pleasurable effects are related to the increase in the functional activity of dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in the brains reward circuitry. This may also involve the action of alcohol on GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain. However, it is a misconception (just plain wrong) that the inhibitory or excitatory action of a neurochemical in the brain is similarly related to behavior. That's simply incorrect. the excitatory or inhibitory effects are related to the increase (excitatory) or decrease (inhibitory) effects of the chemical to depolarize brain cells that utilize a specific neurotransmitter or receptor.
The decreased inhibitions (relaxation is part of this) tend to make people more outgoing, animated, sometimes silly and sometimes annoying or obnoxious (there are too many variables to discuss why some people act one way while intoxicated and others a different way). In any case, the environment is also an important part of the "happy" while intoxicated feeling. When you drink are you alone or are you with friends doing fun stuff? For most people, it's not that much fun to drink alone and being with friends or in a party atmosphere contributes to being "happy" along with the pharmacological effects of the drug (as described above).
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