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Trauma therapy is a form of therapy that can help you deal with the emotional response caused by a traumatic event.

“Over 50% of people experience at least one trauma in their lives,” says Kelly Workman, PsyD, a psychologist at Columbia University Medical Center who specializes in treating trauma. “Trauma can include a wide range of situations, ranging from serious injury, sexual violence, and life-threatening events to chronic abuse and neglect, being bullied, and homelessness.”

This form of therapy can help you if you are unable to cope with the trauma you experienced, or if it’s affecting your ability to function day-to-day.

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Types of Trauma Therapy

There are multiple types of therapy that can help treat trauma. Workman lists some of the forms of therapy a mental health practitioner may use to help you overcome trauma-related issues and treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD):

• Prolonged exposure (PE): This form of therapy involves carefully exposing you to the source of your fear, until you are not afraid of it anymore.
• Cognitive processing therapy (CPT): CPT involves challenging your perspective about why the traumatic event occurred and the thoughts and beliefs you’ve developed about the experience since. This form of therapy can be performed in an individual or group setting.
• Trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy (TF-CBT): This form of therapy is for children and adolescents. It can help address inaccurate beliefs and unhealthy behavior patterns stemming from trauma.
• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): This form of treatment involves using rhythmic left-right (bilateral) stimulation to help release emotions that have been blocked by trauma.

PE and CPT are the front-line treatments for trauma as they have the most research evidence demonstrating their effectiveness, according to Workman.

“Both treatments can be completed in three to four months, which is relatively brief compared to the length of time some people endure immense suffering due to experiencing trauma,” says Workman. She notes that both treatments work well in-person as well as online.

According to Workman, an advantage of CPT is that it can be conducted with or without a description of the actual trauma, which can be helpful if you don’t remember the trauma or don’t want to talk about it.

Moreover, Workman says TF-CBT and EMDR can also help reduce PTSD symptoms, which can lead to improvements in overall functioning and quality of life.

Techniques

The techniques used to treat trauma can vary depending on the type of therapy. Workman outlines some techniques your therapist might employ.

• Imaginal exposure: This is an exposure technique where you imagine the trauma and describe it out loud to your therapist. If you have been avoiding thoughts or memories related to the trauma you faced, this technique helps you confront it.
• In vivo exposure: This is also an exposure therapy technique. It occurs outside the therapy session, in real-life situations. It is intended to help you gradually approach day-to-day situations you may avoid because of the trauma associated with them.
• Written account: Your therapist may ask you to write a descriptive account of the trauma you have experienced.
• Impact statement: A common CPT technique is writing an impact statement that explains why you believe the traumatic event occurred and the impact it has had on your life.
• Cognitive restructuring strategies: CPT can also involve cognitive restructuring strategies that help you change unhelpful thoughts into more helpful ones.

What Trauma Therapy Can Help With

Trauma therapy can help you cope with trauma, whether it’s caused by a one-time event or an ongoing or long-lasting situation.

These are some common forms of trauma that therapy can address; however, it’s important to note that trauma can include any event or experience that causes emotional or psychological harm.

Benefits of Trauma Therapy 

Trauma therapy can help you address the traumatic event and process your feelings and emotions surrounding it and stemming from it. It can give you the opportunity to face your fears in a safe space and learn coping skills that can help you function on a day-to-day basis.

Reduce Fear and Avoidance

Trauma can instill fear and cause you to avoid people, places, or things that remind you of the traumatic experience, which can make it difficult for you to function. For instance, a person who was involved in a car accident on a freeway may avoid driving on freeways or be afraid to get into a car at all, says Workman.

Workman says therapy can help you confront the trauma memory and overcome your fears.

Improve Coping Skills

“PTSD and trauma-related issues are maintained by problematic beliefs such as ‘I’m incapable of coping with this,’” says Workman. Trauma therapy can help equip you with the confidence and coping skills you need to function.

Build Trust

Traumatic events can disrupt your sense of safety and make it difficult for you to trust others. 

With therapy, someone who developed the belief “It’s not safe to trust anyone” may learn to start thinking “Even though I was hurt in the past, most people are good and trustworthy and it’s okay to give people a chance,” says Workman.

Challenge Problematic Beliefs

Therapy can help challenge problematic thought patterns you may have developed about yourself and the world around you, to help you make sense of why the traumatic event occurred, says Workman.

For instance, Workman says someone who started to believe “I must be a bad person because bad things shouldn’t happen to good people” may instead learn to think “Sometimes bad things happen to good people who did nothing to cause it. I am still a good person even if something bad happened to me.”

Therapy can help disconfirm problematic beliefs, help you develop a new perspective about the traumatic experience, and reduce the intensity of trauma-related emotions such as shame and guilt, says Workman.

Offer Validation

People who have experienced trauma and have repeatedly been told that their experiences, characteristics, or emotional reactions are unreasonable and unacceptable may suffer further and develop chronic difficulties, says Workman. She says an example would be being blamed or verbally abused after disclosing a trauma.

Therapy can help validate your experiences and offer the understanding and acceptance you need to start healing.

Effectiveness

According to a 2018 study, there is a substantial amount of evidence that trauma-focused therapies like PE, CPT, and CBT that address memories, thoughts, and feelings related to a traumatic event are effectively able to treat PTSD.

A 2017 study found that veterans who participated in trauma management therapy saw a significant reduction in PTSD symptoms like anger, guilt, depression, difficulty sleeping, and social isolation. These benefits were sustained even six months after the treatment was completed.

Things to Consider

According to Workman, a trauma therapist may consider several factors when assessing your readiness for trauma therapy, which can include:

• Commitment level: It is essential to have a strong commitment to complete the treatment from start to finish because stopping the treatment midway can actually increase PTSD symptoms and cause you to become more entrenched in trauma-related beliefs and avoidance.
• Suicide risk: You should have had no suicide attempts or self-harm incidents in the past two months. For individuals at high risk of suicide or self-harm, PE can be delivered in combination with dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). Since safety is a top priority, DBT would first be used to address any suicidal or self-harm inclinations before beginning the trauma part of treatment.
• Coping skills: You will need coping skills to complete exposure therapy safely and effectively. Coping skills are necessary for managing intense emotions without relying on emotional suppression and behaviors such as substance use or going to bed for the rest of the day.

How to Get Started

If you have experienced some form of trauma and want to seek treatment for it, look for a therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist who specializes in this form of therapy.

If you are already seeing a mental healthcare provider for your symptoms, they may be able to refer you to a specialist. If you are a veteran, there are local and national organizations that offer therapy and resources for trauma and PTSD.

When you reach out to a practitioner who specializes in trauma treatment, in addition to asking for details of your medication, medical history, and insurance plan, they may also assess you to determine whether trauma therapy is appropriate for you at the moment and which form of treatment would work best. 

You can work with your mental healthcare provider to decide the goals of therapy and work out a treatment plan accordingly.

Structural family therapy (SFT) is a type of family therapy that looks at the structure of a family unit and improves the interactions between family members. This approach to therapy was originally developed by Salvador Minuchin and has become one of the dominant forms of family intervention.

SFT suggests that dysfunctional family relationships can create stress and mental health problems for members of that family. 

By addressing how members of the family relate to one another, the goal is to improve communication and relationships to create positive changes for both individual family members and the family unit as a whole.

What Are the Primary Components of Structural Family Therapy?

Structural family therapy relies on a technique known as “family mapping” to uncover and understand patterns of behavior and family interactions. During this process, the therapist creates a visual representation (a “map”) that identifies the family’s problems and how those issues are maintained through family dynamics.

This map diagrams the basic structure of the family, including the members of the family unit, their ages and genders, and their relationships to one another. Aspects of the family observed during this process include:

• Family rules
• Patterns of behavior
• Family structure/hierarchies

This process frequently involves having family members themselves make their own maps describing their family. This not only boosts engagement in the therapeutic process but also gives a therapist a better understanding of how individual family members view their place within the family.

After this initial process, the therapist observes the family during therapy sessions and in the home environment to track interactions and develop a hypothesis about the nature of the family’s relationships and interaction patterns.

Other techniques that may be used during SFT include:

• Joining: This technique involves the therapist developing a sharing and empathetic relationship with all family members in order to “join” the family.
• Boundary-making: The therapist will help the family identify, explore, and adopt clear boundaries and hierarchies within the family.
• Role-play: This involves family members acting out scenarios with the therapist’s guidance to look at certain patterns of behavior, identify dysfunction, and practice enacting alternatives.
• Reframing: In cognitive reframing, the therapist helps family members think about situations in different ways or see things from a different perspective. This can help people see experiences more positively.

What Structural Family Therapy Can Help With

Structural family therapy can be helpful for many families, but it is often recommended in situations or life events that involve:

Any family that is coping with tension or conflict can potentially benefit from structural family therapy.

Benefits of Structural Family Therapy

Families struggling with conflict can benefit from this type of therapy for many reasons. Some of the ways it may help include:

• Correcting imbalances within a family
• Establishing healthy boundaries
• Helping individuals improve their reactions to changing demands
• Improving communication
• Addressing and changing hierarchies within the family system
• Increasing parental competence and satisfaction
• Improving relationship dynamics
• Reducing anger and resentment

SFT recognizes that many aspects of a family’s structure—including behavior patterns, routines, habits, and communication—can contribute to dysfunction. However, this approach to therapy can help families become more stable and improve support to individual family members who may need extra help by working to address these issues.

It can be beneficial for families that have dealt with some significant change in their lives. For example, this might involve the death of a family member, a change in the family structure through a divorce, or some trauma such as interpersonal violence or an accident. 

What Are the Strengths of Structural Family Therapy?

Structural family therapy has been shown to be effective at helping to address problems within families. Studies have also demonstrated the efficacy of this type of therapy. 

• A 2019 study looking at the impact of family therapy on adolescents with mental health problems and their families found that therapy incorporating SFT offered several benefits. For example, the results indicated that after treatment, teens exhibited fewer externalizing and internalizing symptoms. In terms of other improvements, parents also reported increased family cohesion, better parental practices, and greater perceived efficacy as a parent.
• A small 2020 case study found that structural family therapy was an effective approach for improving marital mediation and reducing marital distress. However, the study authors noted that follow-up was needed to evaluate the long-term effects of treatment better.

Since its initial development in the 1960s, SFT has become one of the predominant family counseling theories.

Things to Consider

The amount of time needed for treatment to be successful often depends on the dynamics of the family and the situation they are facing. Some families may require relatively short-term treatment lasting a few weeks, while others may need more sessions lasting several months. 

Participation and cooperation play an important role in the success of this type of treatment. However, some family members may be less cooperative or may refuse to participate altogether.

How to Get Started

If you think that structural family therapy may be helpful, ask your doctor if they can refer you to a professional who practices this type of treatment. You may also search an online therapy directory to locate professionals in your area who specialize in SFT. 

Some questions you might ask before you begin treatment include:

• How much experience does the therapist have with SFT?
• How long is treatment expected to take?
• How will progress be measured?
• What happens if some family members miss therapy sessions?

During your first appointment, your therapist will ask you questions to learn more about the problems you are facing and how your family currently functions. They may ask you to create a family diagram to describe relationships between members of the family and work to get a better view of the dynamic between individuals in the family.

After your initial session, your therapist will then be able to provide a fuller view of your family’s treatment plan and what else you can expect during treatment.

When it comes to the popular tea and coffee debate, I will always, always choose coffee. For one, I’ve never really enjoyed the smell of herbal tea, let alone the taste. I remember gagging as a little kid at the smell of my mom’s “natural cold remedy” and immune-boosting red onion and apple tea whenever she would make it before bed. Also, famously, I refuse to drink tea whenever I’m feeling sick, preferring a good night’s sleep, chicken broth, and over-the-counter cold and flu medicines. 

Nevertheless, as I’ve matured, so have my taste buds. Over the holidays, I spent a month in the South of India, where—in addition to eating the best Indian food I’ve ever had—I was introduced to the gastronomic magic that is masala chai. Since then, I have become more open to exploring other types of teas after being a certified tea-hater for so many years. So when I got this assignment in my inbox, I said: “What the heck, sure.” 

To do this experiment correctly, I tagged nutrition and holistic health experts to get their feedback on the relationship between teas and mood, as well as energy.

What Are the Benefits of Tea?

Before I get into the details of my experiment, let me preface with the many benefits of tea.

It May Positively Impact Mood, Depression, and Anxiety

Because of its lower caffeine content, black tea can be a great way to get the mood-boosting benefits of coffee without the jitteriness and possible insomnia as a result of too much coffee, says Alicia Bigelow, ND, a naturopathic physician, holistic therapist, and Verywell Mind review board member. 

Teas that contain adaptogenic herbs, such as ashwagandha or rhodiola, and botanicals, like lemon balm and chamomile, can help reduce stress and promote a sense of calm, says Supatra Tovar, PsyD, RD, a clinical psychologist and registered dietitian. Rhodiola rosea tea has been shown to have a possible antidepressant effect on humans.

It Can Provide a Gentle Energy Boost

“Black tea and matcha both contain caffeine, which can enhance alertness and focus,” says Dr. Tovar. They also offer additional benefits not found in coffee.

“Matcha, in particular, is rich in L-theanine, an amino acid that promotes calmness and helps counteract caffeine’s jittery effects,” Dr. Tovar explains. “This combination provides a smoother, more sustained energy boost without the crashes often associated with coffee.”

How I Felt While Drinking Daily Cups of Tea

So, how did drinking black tea daily affect my mood and energy? Here’s how I felt after each day of drinking an eight-ounce cup of tea:

Day 1: Pushing Through the Afternoon Slump

Despite sleeping in after attending a late-night concert the day before, I woke up this Tuesday morning feeling slightly sluggish. In addition to the late bedtime, I was also on my period, so naturally I was feeling quite low energy.

Around 11 a.m. I had my first cup of Earl Grey tea with oat milk. I felt the effects immediately, energized for most of the morning and early afternoon. Around 3 p.m. I hit a caffeine crash—or what felt like one.

As a coffee drinker, hitting a midday slump is nothing out of the ordinary—which is why I’m usually grabbing my second cup of joe around this time. Nevertheless, because I was working from home that day and didn’t need heaps of energy, I opted to ride the slump out.

On Day 2, I Used Matcha To Get Me to the End of the Day

I started my Wednesday around 9 a.m. with a cup of Earl Grey tea alongside breakfast. I felt pretty energized for most of the morning, but by the time I arrived at brunch with my friends at 1 p.m., I was ready for another cup of tea. I had a late evening class that day and knew I would be on campus until 8 p.m., so refilling my tank was in order.

To experiment a little, I opted for a coconut matcha latte on the restaurant’s menu. I’m not a huge fan of matcha, but I found the coconut milk lightened its rich, earthy taste. The tall, 16-ounce glass of matcha definitely gave me the energy boost I needed to make it to the end of the day. 

On Day 3, I Felt Notably Tired

On Thursday, I began my day bright and early at 7 a.m. I had my typical Earl Grey tea with oat milk alongside a hearty breakfast of avocado toast topped with eggs, and a banana on the side. I was babysitting from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., so I needed to make sure I was energized for the day ahead.

I was feeling fine until around 1 p.m. when I hit a bit of a slump. Nevertheless, given that I went to bed at 2 a.m. the night before and had a 6 a.m. wake-up time, it was hard to tell if my crash in energy was due to lack of caffeine or lack of sleep—most likely a mix of both. 

Day 4: Caffeine Withdrawal Starts To Hit

On Friday, things started to get complicated. After three days without espresso, I was beginning to feel symptoms of caffeine withdrawal. Although black tea has a high concentration of caffeine, it’s considerably less, compared to coffee. As such, I was experiencing a slight headache.

Around 3 p.m. I made myself another cup of Earl Grey tea—about six hours after my usual morning cup. The second cup definitely re-energized me and helped alleviate my headache for a few hours, too. 

Day 5: Rest and Recovery

As it was Saturday, I had a later start to the day than usual. I had my first cup of Earl Grey tea with oat milk alongside my typical breakfast of avocado toast around 11 a.m. I spent most of the day at home, working on an article and recovering from a late Friday night drinking copious amounts of red wine at a friend’s housewarming.

Overall, I didn’t feel the need to have another cup of tea since I was mostly bed-rotting and catching up on a new Netflix series. 

Should You Drink Tea for Energy?

It really depends on what you’re looking for. 

“Due to its higher caffeine content, some people prefer coffee to boost energy,” says Dr. Bigelow. 

But if you’re someone who’s particularly sensitive to caffeine, tea can be a wonderful alternative to coffee for energy, says Dr. Tovar. “The presence of L-theanine in teas like green tea and matcha provides a balanced energy lift without the anxiety or insomnia that coffee can sometimes cause—especially when consumed later in the day.” 

It’s worth noting that while coffee can increase alertness and concentration in the short term by blocking adenosine, the neurotransmitter responsible for making you feel drowsy, it also stimulates the stress hormone cortisol, which can lead to jitteriness and disrupted sleep, Dr. Tovar explains.

“Tea, on the other hand, provides a more stable energy boost due to L-theanine’s calming effect,” Dr. Tovar says. So for those who struggle with anxiety, mood swings, and poor sleep, tea is generally a safer option.

If you’re looking to make the switch, Dr. Bigelow recommends starting off with matcha. It’s the best of both worlds with a higher caffeine content and the calming effect of L-theanine, she says.

Additionally, if you switch from coffee to black tea, you may notice a short-term drop in energy due to the lower caffeine levels, whereas matcha has a closer caffeine content to coffee, so that effect is less pronounced or not at all noticeable, Dr. Bigelow adds.

Should You Drink Tea to Boost Your Mood?

Lack of sleep and movement, as well as high blood sugar levels from consuming too many carbohydrates, are all factors that can contribute to poor mood apart from major negative life events. “Regular exercise or movement that you enjoy—such as dancing, jogging, walking with a friend, or yoga—can do wonders for your mood, along with reducing stress and helping you sleep more soundly,” says Dr. Bigelow. 

Eating foods high in omega-3 fatty acids (salmon, walnuts, and flaxseeds), magnesium (dark leafy greens, almonds, and pumpkin seeds), and probiotics (yogurt and fermented foods) can also support brain health, the gut-brain axis, and mood regulation, Dr. Tovar advises.

Lastly, consider breathwork and meditation to deal with everyday life stressors. “Even just five minutes of deep breathing or guided meditation can significantly reduce stress and improve mood stability,” says Dr. Tovar.

My Final Thoughts

While I won’t be swapping my daily cup of espresso with oat milk for tea as I prefer the taste of coffee (sorry, not sorry), I do think it’s worth experimenting with different sources of energy and mood regulation. 

For example, movement is a major part of my life—either through weekly high-intensity cycling classes or flamenco courses—and these activities leave me feeling way more energized and mentally stable than any beverage can. For longer-term mental health benefits, I also rely on therapy and daily gratitude journaling. 

“Ultimately, the goal, as I see it, is to not have to rely on caffeinated beverages for energy or mood, but to be able to enjoy them in their own right as and when you wish,” says Dr. Bigelow.

As someone who enjoys a sugary latte for the flavor more than anything, I couldn’t agree more. Everyone has their comfort beverage, and coffee is simply my bias.

If you take any medication—even over-the-counter (OTC) products—drinking alcohol might affect how your meds work. Mixing alcohol and medication can even be dangerous.

If you’re drinking excessively or regularly, you are increasing the risk of adverse medication reactions. The combination of medication and alcohol can lead to serious health consequences, including overdose and even death. “It’s generally advisable to avoid drinking alcohol when taking medications,” says psychiatric clinical pharmacist Mei T. Liu, PharmD, BCPP.

Alcohol can interact with certain drugs or exacerbate the medical and mental health conditions you’re being treated for. To be safe, consult with your doctor or pharmacist first. They can provide personalized guidance based on your specific medications and health status.

Here is what you need to know about the possible unsafe interactions between alcohol and common prescription and over-the-counter medications.

Why Medications and Alcohol Don’t Mix

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), there are several reasons that it can be harmful to mix medications and alcohol. The ways that drugs and alcohol interact in your body can go both ways: Alcohol can change how a medication works, and certain drugs can change how you feel the effects of alcohol.

Alcohol can make some medications less effective by interfering with how they are absorbed in the digestive tract. In some cases, alcohol increases the bioavailability of a drug, which can raise the concentration of the medication in your blood to toxic levels.

Additionally, drinking alcohol can also make the side effects of a medication worse or even cause new symptoms. This is especially true if you are taking a medication that makes you sleepy or causes sedation. More intense side effects mean you might be more impaired after having one drink than you would typically be. The mixture of opiates and alcohol, for example, can cause your breathing to stop and is a common cause of death.

If you take prescription medication or use a specific medication every day, ask your doctor if it is okay for you to drink alcohol. You may be able to consume a limited amount safely, as long as you follow certain rules (for example, waiting at least four hours after taking your daily dose before having an alcoholic drink).

And be honest about your drinking habits. If you lie about the amount of alcohol you consume on a regular basis, your doctor can’t accurately judge the risks and benefits of prescribing a particular medication.

Additionally, if you have an underlying health condition like heart disease or high blood pressure (hypertension), mixing alcohol with your medications can put you at risk for complications.

Side Effects of Mixing Medications With Alcohol

Other symptoms that can occur if you mix medications with alcohol include:

• Blood pressure changes
• Changes to your moods, emotions, and behavior
• Dizziness
• Headaches
• Lack of coordination
• Nausea and vomiting

In some cases, mixing alcohol with medications can lead to an overdose or alcohol poisoning—both of which are potentially life-threatening medical emergencies.

The effects of mixing alcohol with medication also depend on certain individual factors. For example, women can experience the effects of mixing alcohol and medications more severely than men because of differences in metabolism.

Older adults (especially those who take more than one medication) are also more likely to experience problems, as the ability to clear both alcohol and drugs from the body is reduced with age.

Mental Health Medications That Interact With Alcohol

In general, alcohol use has the potential to make symptoms of a mental health condition worse. In addition, there are hundreds of mental health medications that interact with alcohol. Combining alcohol with a mental health medication can make the medication less effective or even more dangerous.

Here is a short list of the most common prescription and OTC drugs that can pose a risk to your health if mixed with alcohol, as well as what can happen if the substances are combined.

ADHD Medications

Stimulants and sedatives (such as alcohol) mask each other’s effects. So, mixing the two together increases the likelihood of overdose on either substance.

Harmful physical effects such as seizures may occur in some cases. The longer a person misuses stimulants and alcohol together, the higher the risk becomes of developing substance use disorders.

Medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), such as the following, should not be mixed with alcohol:

Anti-Anxiety, Anti-Seizure, and Epilepsy Medications

Mixing anti-anxiety and epilepsy medications with alcoholic beverages can cause slowed breathing, impaired motor control, abnormal behavior, and memory loss.

If you are being treated for an anxiety disorder or epilepsy, avoid alcohol if you take any of the following medications:

Antidepressants

In addition to worsening the side effects of antidepressant medications, mixing these drugs with alcohol can also make symptoms of depression worse.

If you are being treated for depression or another mental health condition such as an anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, or obsessive- disorder, you may need to limit or completely avoid alcohol if you take one or more of the following medications:

• Anafranil (clomipramine)
• Celexa (citalopram)
• Effexor (venlafaxine)
• Elavil (amitriptyline)
• Lexapro (escitalopram)
• Luvox (fluvoxamine)
• Norpramin (desipramine)
• Paxil (paroxetine)
• Prozac (fluoxetine)
• Serzone (nefazodone)
• Wellbutrin (bupropion)
• Zoloft (sertraline)

Antipsychotics

Antipsychotics may be prescribed for people with conditions such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.

The risks of mixing antipsychotics and alcohol include impaired judgment, dizziness, drowsiness, low blood pressure, the worsening of a psychiatric condition, an increased risk of suicide, and more.

Common antipsychotics include:

Sleep Aids

Medications used to treat insomnia or help you fall and stay asleep should never be mixed with alcohol. The sedating effect of these drugs can be increased by alcohol, leading to slowed or impaired breathing, impaired motor control, abnormal behavior, memory loss, and fainting.

In some cases, a fatal overdose can occur if sleep aids are mixed with alcohol because both substances affect the body’s central nervous system (which controls your breathing, heart rate, and brain function).

Do not consume alcohol if you are taking any of these medications to help you sleep:

• Ambien (zolpidem)
• Lunesta (eszopiclone)
• Prosom (estazolam)
• Restoril (temazepam)
• Unisom (doxylamine)

Other Medication Interactions

It’s important that you don’t mix alcohol with any of the following medications.

Allergy, Cold, and Flu Medications

You should avoid drinking alcohol if you are taking allergy medications or any multi-symptom cold and flu formulation.

Drowsiness and dizziness are common side effects of medications used to treat allergies, colds, and the flu. These symptoms are also common when you drink alcohol. When the substances are combined, the effect is intensified, and your judgment and focus will be further impaired.

The risks associated with drowsiness caused by medication or alcohol are serious, which is why you should never drive or operate heavy machinery while under the influence of any substance.

Avoid alcohol if you are taking:

• Allegra (fexofenadine) or Allegra-D (fexofenadine/pseudoephedrine)
• Benadryl (diphenhydramine)
• Claritin (loratadine) or Claritin-D (loratadine/pseudoephedrine)
• Sudafed Sinus and Allergy (chlorpheniramine/phenylephrine)
• Tylenol Cold and Flu (acetaminophen/dextromethorphan/guaifenesin/phenylephrine)
• Zyrtec (cetirizine)

Angina Medications

Angina (ischemic chest pain) is caused by reduced blood flow to the heart. If you have angina, you might be prescribed a medication called nitroglycerin.

If you drink alcohol while you are taking nitroglycerin, it can cause a rapid heartbeat (tachycardia), sudden changes in blood pressure, dizziness, and fainting.

Avoid alcohol if you are taking any brand of nitroglycerin, including (but not limited to):

• Nitrostat
• Nitromist
• Nitroquick
• Nitro-Dur

Antibiotics

Alcohol might affect how well some antibiotic medications work. It’s possible that if you use them together, antibiotics may be less effective at clearing up the infection that you are being treated for. 

The research on mixing alcohol with antibiotics is somewhat limited and unclear, but the combination has been associated with symptoms such as tachycardia (rapid heartbeat), sudden changes in blood pressure, gastrointestinal upset, headache, flushing, and liver damage.

Other antibiotics that should not be mixed with alcohol include (but aren’t limited to):

• Amoxicillin
• Nydrazid (isoniazid)
• Tindamax (tinidazole)

Anti-Nausea Medications

Medications that are prescribed to treat nausea can make you feel drowsy, dizzy, and may impair your motor control—symptoms that can also be caused by alcohol. Some drugs (often antihistamines) used to prevent and treat motion sickness can also be purchased over-the-counter.

If you mix any type of anti-nausea drug with alcohol, the side effects of the medication can become more intense.

Avoid combining alcoholic beverages with medications used to treat nausea, such as:

• Antivert (meclizine)
• Atarax (hydroxyzine)
• Phenergan (promethazine)

Certain types of anti-nausea medication can be used to help someone who is trying to stop drinking alcohol. When used under medical supervision, the combination can be an effective way to treat alcohol withdrawal.

Arthritis Medications

If you take medications for arthritis, it is important to know that mixing them with alcohol can increase your risk for stomach ulcers and bleeding in the stomach, as well as liver problems.

You should avoid alcohol if you are taking medication to treat arthritis, including:

• Celebrex (celecoxib)
• Naprosyn (naproxen)
• Voltaren (diclofenac)

Blood Thinners

If you have a medical condition (such as atrial fibrillation) that puts you at risk for developing a blood clot, your doctor might prescribe anticoagulant medications to “thin” your blood. While these drugs make it less likely your body will form blood clots, they also make you bleed more easily.

If you take a blood thinner, even an occasional drink can increase your risk of internal bleeding. Drinking often or heavily increases this risk and can also counteract the medication’s blood-thinning effects. If your body is forming blood clots, it increases your risk of having a stroke or a heart attack.

You might not need to completely avoid alcohol if you are taking a blood thinner. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends limiting your intake to no more than one or two occasional drinks if you are on anticoagulant therapy.

However, your doctor might have a different recommendation. Be sure to talk to them before having a drink if you are taking anticoagulant medication, such as:

• Coumadin (warfarin)
• Heparin
• Lovenox (enoxaparin sodium)

Cholesterol Medications

Medications prescribed to lower cholesterol levels (known as statins) can cause flushing, itching, stomach bleeding, and liver damage. Combining these drugs with alcohol can make the risks and side effects worse, especially if you have liver disease. 

Mild liver inflammation can occur in about 2% of people who take statins for a long time. While it typically gets better after stopping taking the medications, there has been concern that alcohol (which is metabolized by the liver) could potentially make liver inflammation worse.

Some research has found that alcohol does not appear to worsen liver inflammation in certain people who take medication for their cholesterol. A 2006 Harvard study found that moderate alcohol use did not have a significant negative effect on the livers of men taking statins after heart surgery.

That said, mixing alcohol and statins could still make the medication’s side effects more intense. You may want to limit your alcohol use if you are taking a cholesterol-lowering medication such as:

• Advicor (niacin extended-release/lovastatin)
• Altocor (lovastatin)
• Crestor (rosuvastatin)
• Lipitor (atorvastatin)
• Vytorin (ezetimibe/simvastatin)

Cough Suppressants

As with cold and flu remedies, combining alcohol with medications used to treat a cough can cause drowsiness, dizziness, and motor impairment. The effects of the mix can be especially serious—if not deadly—when the cough medicine also contains alcohol.

One ingredient in some cough suppressants called dextromethorphan (DXM) can be especially dangerous because it can cause extreme sedation and respiratory depression. This combination can cause an overdose which may be fatal.

You should not drink alcohol if you are taking:

• Robitussin A-C (guaifenesin/codeine) or Robitussin Cough (dextromethorphan)
• Delsym (dextromethorphan)

Diabetes Medications

If you have diabetes, drinking alcohol can affect your blood sugar levels. Drinking alcohol with the medications you take to manage your diabetes can have the same effect, and the mix can also cause symptoms like nausea, vomiting, headache, rapid heartbeat, and sudden changes in your blood pressure.

You should not drink alcohol if you take medications to treat diabetes, including:

• Glucophage (metformin)
• Micronase (glyburide)
• Orinase (tolbutamide)

Heartburn Medications

Using alcohol with medications used to treat heartburn, both prescription and over-the-counter, can cause tachycardia (rapid heartbeat) and sudden changes in blood pressure. These drugs can also make the effects of alcohol more intense, leading to impaired judgment and sedation.

Use caution and consider limiting your alcohol intake if you take medications for heartburn, including:

• Axid (nizatidine)
• Reglan (metoclopramide)
• Tagamet (cimetidine)
• Zantac (ranitidine)

Hypertension Medications

Combining alcohol with medications used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure) can cause dizziness, fainting, drowsiness, and arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat).

You should avoid drinking alcohol if you take medications to treat high blood pressure, such as:

• Accupril (quinapril)
• Capozide (captopril/hydrochlorothiazide)
• Cardura (doxazosin)
• Catapres (clonidine)
• Vaseretic (enalapril/hydrochlorothiazide)

Muscle Relaxants

If you have an injury or medical condition that causes pain or spasms in your muscles, you might be given medications to relax them. Muscle relaxants are commonly used to treat back and neck pain, as well as certain kinds of headaches.

Combining these medications with alcohol can cause serious side effects, including drowsiness, dizziness, slowed or impaired breathing, abnormal behavior, memory loss, impaired motor control, and seizures.

While this is not an exhaustive list, you should not drink alcohol if you take any of the following medications:

• Atarax (hydroxyzine)
• Antivert (meclizine)
• Soma (carisoprodol)

Opioid Pain Medications

One of the deadliest combinations is alcohol and narcotic pain medications. On their own, opioids can cause drowsiness, dizziness, slowed or impaired breathing, impaired motor control, abnormal behavior, and memory loss.

Mixing these medications with alcohol intensifies the side effects and increases the risk of a fatal overdose.

You should never mix alcohol with narcotics, including:

• Darvocet–N (propoxyphene napsylate/acetaminophen)
• Demerol (meperidine)
• Fiorinal (butalbital/aspirin/caffeine)
• Percocet (oxycodone/acetaminophen)
• Vicodin (hydrocodone/acetaminophen)

Prostate Medications

Having an alcoholic drink while you are taking medications to treat prostate conditions can cause dizziness, lightheadedness, and fainting.

Limit or avoid your alcohol consumption if you take any of the following prostate medications:

• Cardura (doxazosin)
• Flomax (tamsulosin)
• Minipress (prazosin)

Over-the-Counter Pain Medications

The dangers of mixing alcohol with prescription drugs are well known. When you pick your prescription up at the pharmacy, chances are the label or package insert will come with a warning if it is not safe to consume alcohol while you are taking the medication.

However, even medications that don’t require a prescription can be unsafe when mixed with alcohol. For example, OTC painkillers (including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) can cause a range of symptoms from gastrointestinal upset to bleeding and ulcers in the stomach to tachycardia (racing heart).

Both the short-term and long-term side effects and risks associated with taking OTC painkillers are intensified when you mix these drugs with alcohol. If you are taking an OTC painkiller, be sure to read the label carefully. Some OTC pain relievers do not generally pose a major risk when small amounts are combined with occasional alcohol use.

However, serious interactions can occur between alcohol and other pain relievers—particularly if people have underlying medical conditions that change how their body metabolizes drugs and alcohol.

Be especially careful with any drug or multi-symptom remedy containing acetaminophen or ibuprofen.

Summary

There are hundreds of prescription and over-the-counter medications that are not safe to mix with alcohol. The dangers of mixing alcohol with medications can range from increased side effects to potentially life-threatening symptoms, overdose, and even death.

Always read the label and package insert of any medication you are taking, whether it has been prescribed by your doctor or purchased over-the-counter. If you are not sure if it is safe to drink alcohol while you are taking medication, call a local pharmacy or talk to your doctor about the potential interactions. 

Chemistry in a relationship refers to the intense feelings of connection, passion, and romance that people in relationships share. Chemistry is influenced by a variety of factors, including intimacy and similar interests.

It’s normal and natural for romantic relationships to start out fiery and passionate, then slowly transition into warmth and stability. This is due to many factors, ranging from how attraction and bonding hormones in our bodies change over time, to the instinctive nesting habits that have kept us flourishing as a species.

What Does Chemistry in a Relationship Mean?

When it comes to human interaction, chemistry manifests in both every day friendships and in relationships. Simply put, the feeling of chemistry with another person is that of connection.

It’s a draw to someone else that makes you want more of them. That doesn’t have to be in a romantic relationship context, though that is the way we most often use the word. A few common types of chemistry are outlined below.

Friendship Chemistry

The people we choose to be our friends likely have similar interests, politics, and/or demographics to us. But we don’t just befriend anyone who feels similar to how we do. Rather, friendship chemistry plays a large role in who we choose to become friends with.

Friendship chemistry is the pull to another person on a friendly, emotional, and intellectual level. It can manifest in ways like thinking someone dresses nicely and wanting to emulate their style, or appreciating their politics and wanting to join them in actions, or liking their taste in food and wanting to go with them to new restaurants.

Career Chemistry

If you’ve ever had a colleague you loved working on projects with, you probably had work, aka career, chemistry with them. This form of chemistry is more specific than friendship chemistry, and doesn’t necessarily involve a person’s tastes or interests. Instead, it’s the connection and dynamic of feeling productive and inspired with another person.

You can bounce ideas off one another easily, springboard on each other’s thoughts, and you feel like what you create together is better than the product of two individuals.

Sexual Chemistry

Sexual chemistry is what we feel for a person we want to be intimate with. When this is an in-person experience, it’s believed that we are responding to the person’s pheromones, the hormones that help us understand how someone will be as a mate.

When someone is long distance, we can react to their image, voice, writing, or video. An example of chemistry despite distance would be a celebrity crush, where you have a desire to be intimate with someone but have never met them.

Sexual chemistry is often felt viscerally in our bodies. We may become short of breath, sweaty, warm, or otherwise impassioned when looking at or talking to someone we feel sexual chemistry towards.

Romantic Chemistry

Sexual chemistry is usually a part of romantic chemistry, but it isn’t always. Romantic chemistry is centered around what we think of romance. For you, this might mean giving/receiving flowers, sharing a candlelit dinner, or post-coital pillow talk about your hopes and dreams.

Can Chemistry Be Acquired Or Created?

Romantic and sexual chemistry are usually what lead us into relationships. It’s the draw to another person, and the desire to share our bodies and our lives with them, that tends to fuel our partnerships.

There are many tales, though, of people who fell for one another slowly. Perhaps they were friends for years first, or work colleagues, or went to school together. They may have been acquaintances who never really noticed or focused on one another until a chance encounter or situation.

Chemistry may grow slowly in these relationships, and people may become attracted to one another gradually. They may even slowly develop romantic feelings without realizing it, until the other person expresses them.

But if you are unsure whether or not you’re attracted to them, it can be worth spending more time with the person to see what develops. Chemistry may grow or increase as you get to know someone.

How to Tell If There Is No Chemistry in a Relationship

No long-term relationships maintain the initial chemistry that brought two (or more) people together initially forever, and that’s OK. After all, it would be hard to lead a normal life if we constantly felt overwhelmed with those magical, falling in love feelings!

There are many ways to tell if a lack of chemistry in your relationship is a problem. These are the most obvious ones:

• Not wanting to return affection from your partner, or give it to them
• An aversion to being intimate with them
• Feeling emotionally disconnected from your partner
• Not wanting to share personal details about what’s going on with you
• Spending progressively more time apart from one another, and not minding it
• Having romantic and sexual feelings for others that go beyond surface-level
• Feeling like you are growing apart

How to Rekindle Chemistry in a Relationship

A lack of chemistry in a relationship is predicated on a lack of connection, or the desire to connect. You can try to bring back lost chemistry through emotionally and physically connective activities, such as:

• A date night with activities you both enjoy
• Intentional affection, even if it doesn’t feel instinctive in the moment
• Orchestrated touch, such as massage
• Finding ways to rekindle a healthy sex life
• Attending sex therapy together
• Attending couple’s counseling together
• Scheduled check-ins, in which each partner shares about their emotions and emotional state
• A vacation or staycation

Sometimes, going about things backwards works better than we’d anticipate. For example, affection releases oxytocin, a feel-good chemical.

Even if you don’t feel like being affectionate, the act of giving and receiving affection makes our bodies produce happy chemicals. That, in turn, can reignite the happy feelings we have towards the person we are being affectionate with.