Psychiatrist explains main reason he does not drink alcohol after seeing it in patients ‘every week’

A psychiatrist has shared why he doesn't drink alcohol after seeing certain signs in his patients.

Having a pint after a long day is pretty much a British staple, but as we all know, it might not be the best thing for your health in the long term - despite how good or relieving it can feel at the time.

But it turns out that the good feeling that comes from a few drinks can actually be detrimental to our mental health if we're not careful - according to an expert.

Dr Daniel Amen, a psychiatrist and 12 time New York bestseller, took to his TikTok to share exactly why he doesn't drink with his 2.8 million social media followers, in not just one but two separate videos.

He explained in his first video that he 'likes his brain' and 'doesn't like being out of control', explaining that scans of drinkers' bodies that he's seen have all not been 'healthy'.

Dr Amen also spoke about a TV show he did called The Truth About Drinking, where they took a guy who was 'drinking a lot', helping him get sober, before getting him drunk and scanning his brain.

He says the scan showed that his 'frontal lobes went away' - with that part of the brain focusing on 'judgement, impulse control, organisation planning and empathy', which you 'want all those things'.

His second video garnered over 134,000 views on TikTok, where he gave a candid answer to why he doesn't drink alcohol.

In the description, he wrote: "Alcohol free is the way to be!"

Dr Amen then started explaining: "So why I don't drink alcohol, part 2,

"I never want my moral supervisor to go on vacation, I like the decisions that I make and I have to tell you, it's every week in my clinical practice, somebody's in trouble because of alcohol."

The health expert continued: "They said something they shouldn't have said, they did something they shouldn't have done, their empathy was dropped."

He likened drinking alcohol to your moral supervisor taking a 'coffee break' when really, they should always be there with you.

"Now I understand why people drink, because it sort of takes that moral supervisor and put some away so you can be a little bit freer," he admitted.

"I want you to learn how to be free, keeping the moral supervisor around."

Viewers left their thoughts in the comments below, with one user joking: "My moral supervisor drug of choice is snickers."

Another revealed: "I’m 63 and decided at 17 not to drink alcohol. I’ve had people try to get me to drink my whole life.

"My mom once said I was afraid of losing control. A family member said 'Don’t you just want ONE?'"

A third posted: "Thank you for sharing. More people need to hear this."