Anyone who is depressed and is drinking alcohol in order to deal with it is caught in a bit of a trap. To some extent, alcoholism and depression is a chicken and egg sort of problem. It is not always clear which is the bigger problem: alcoholism that causes depression, or a depression that has led to alcoholism.
For the most part it does not even matter. The treatment is the same regardless of which thing caused the other to occur. The bottom line is that both need to be treated in order to make any sort of start on a new life in recovery. Treating depression does not typically work if someone is drinking alcohol every day though. Therefore, the best option is to start with abstinence as a baseline. You have to get sobered up and string together a few weeks or even months of sobriety before you can really put a dent in your depression problem.
But once you are living a sober life, dealing with your depression becomes possible at least. It opens the door to allowing treatment to work in your life. In fact, most anti-depressant medication will not work at all if you continue to drink every day, so abstinence is a huge part of the solution.Once you stop drinking and start living a sober life, new possibilities will open up to you and you will be able to better treat depression and mental illness in your life. Taking medications, exercising regularly, going to doctors appointments, and other simple actions become easily achieved when you are sober. When you are still drinking every day most of this stuff is impossible to accomplish.
Stop Drinking to Avoid Alcohol Depression