Alcohol and depression are ugly partners that make a match that is definitely not from heaven. More than 35 to 40 percent of people with an alcohol problem also show signs of depression.

People who drink alcohol, but do not have a heavy drinking problem also show signs of depression, but the statistics are not as high. Just 5 percent of men and 10 percent of women who drink alcohol moderately show signs of depression, not outside the norm for depression.

People who have a problem with alcohol may begin drinking alcohol when they are experiencing depression. Moreover, after they have binged on alcohol, they often end up with hangovers, which likely include feelings of depression caused by guilt concerning the alcohol binge.

If you have a problem with alcohol, you may be battling depression that is related to your alcoholism. For example, you might drink too much alcohol and then return home to an angry spouse or feel a bout of depression the next day at the office.

Depression might be the result of declining health, sexual impotence and memory blackouts related to alcohol binges.

If you have a problem with depression and alcohol, you may first want to attend a support group for alcoholics. If your depression is not lifted once you become sober and give up alcohol; then, you may need psychiatric help to solve the depression problem.

Some people, especially those facing a crisis, death or traumatic event, say their depression lifted after they found someone to talk to about their feelings.

Your physician or psychiatrist might prescribe antidepressants to help you overcome your depression. Remember, it is never wise to mix alcohol and medications.

Whether you drink alcohol because you are depressed or you are depressed because you drink alcohol, your doctor can tell you whether you have clinical depression.

Depression and alcohol problems go hand-in-hand because people with depression often use alcohol as a way of self-medicating themselves. They want to alter their state from a state of depression to euphoria or a state of sadness to happiness. They may also just want to fall asleep and use alcohol as opposed to sleeping pills since alcohol has a depressant effect on most people.

It's not sensible to drink alcohol when you are experiencing depression because alcohol impairs your judgment leading people with depression to commit suicide, act on impulse or take risks.

Alcohol also lowers one's inhibition, which may make it easier for a person who is experiencing depression to partake in risky sexual behavior that might lead to sexually transmitted diseases or unplanned pregnancies. Oftentimes men with depression who drink alcohol end up in fights since alcohol is linked with aggressive behavior and violence.

Experts say there are "psychosocial links" between depression and alcohol. The psychological and social links between alcohol and depression could arise from stress related to traumatic childhood events. Also, adults who were neglected as children often experience problems with alcohol and depression.

Experts also examine the links between depression and alcohol as they relate to brain function.

According to the last decade of research on the way depression and alcohol affects the brain, alcohol may cause anxiety, reduced appetite and disrupted sleep patterns as well as other symptoms of depression.

Some experts have studied the genetic links between alcohol and depression. They say both alcohol problems and depression may be inherited. In fact, if your parent has a problem with alcohol, you are more likely to also show a dependency on alcohol. Also, people with a sibling or parent with depression have an increased chance of having depression.

If you are older and suffer with depression, you are at even higher risk of having an alcohol problem In fact as many as 30 percent of people with major late life depression have alcohol problems.

If you are drinking alcohol to cope with depression in your life, your problems with probably get worse before they get better. The alcohol wears off and, if you have not changed your behavior, your depression will still be there. You may just become an alcoholic with depression instead of a sad person who turns to alcohol to ease the pain.

Finally, drinking alcohol is not an intelligent way to deal with feelings of depression because experts say drinking alcohol may actually change the chemistry of the brain, leading to an even deeper level of depression.

Deprex works naturally with the body to ease depression without the side effects commonly associated with antidepressants.