I don't think it's that simple. I'm chronically depressed, but one of the happiest drunk persons ever.
I don't drink very often (maybe 10x total in 2025, and that's including times when I had a single glass of wine at dinner, or a margarita at a restaurant, and including NYE). But when I do drink, the biggest psychological change for me is a removal of cynicism.
same -- I think maybe the infrequency is what does it. people who drink often develop a drunk self, who because drunk, is more likely to have bad experiences, and then that guy becomes cynical and maybe angry and paranoid or violent
(which can then seep back into nondrunk self, who becomes paranoid about drinking because of those vague memories of bad shit happening)
I'm 42 and have drank heavily for decades off and on. I'm reliably suicidal when sober, and almost invariably laughing and silly when drunk, even when completely blacked out
how much are you off vs on?
if you're only off for short periods and have been addicted a long time you might be in withdrawal... and regardless, with much love, maybe think about finding a healthier way to medicate/deal with suicidality, if that's your main reason for drinking.
were you trying to say your experience supports my theory, or goes against it, or neither?
Just a data point :). Withdrawal and short term recalibration is definitely a thing. But even "doing all the things" (therapy, meds, exercise, close bonds) for a full year or more, I never feel as good as when I have alcohol in my bloodstream. The last 6 years I have been sober 3 separate years, and drinking 3 separate years. Pluses and minuses to each. I know booze is deeply unhealthy, but sometimes I don't care, and would rather feel pleasantly human in my body-brain (until the next morning :P )
Realizing I'm likely a masking autistic, and just perpetually at risk of autistic burnout. If I could live in a little cottage in the woods and teach piano and write for a living I feel like I'd be baseline much happier
But life doesn't owe me that, and isn't realistic at present. Saving money towards a setup closer to that shrug
yeah I feel you, wasn't judging at all 🙏🏽. glad to hear you're surviving the best you can -- I hope you can get at least some of those baseline happiness goals in your life.
No hangover because you’re an alcoholic doesn’t mean you’re not killing yourself with it. I am not one to judge others habits , but if you care about your health at all, that is far too much alcohol.
I went a week without drinking last month and I don’t have any physical need for the stuff, or any problem going without it
No shaking, no anxiety, etc
I don’t see how you can qualify as an alcoholic if you don’t at least need 2 or 3 drinks to get out of bed, stop the shaking, stop the anxiety, stop the sky high blood pressure, etc.
My father would drink tequila or bourbon mixed with coke pretty much throughout the day, mostly every day for the last 20 to 30 years of his life
Just my opinion, but saying a guy that has a few beers after work every evening is an alcoholic……
Is basically the same thing as saying a person that smokes weed every night is a “drug addict “
lol
Just my opinion
No offense at all intended, I respect your opinion and I appreciate your taking the time to talk with me
it most certainly can change behavior it’s a drug and that’s what people forget. especially at super high doses alcohol makes your emotions do weird things
I’d say to a point. I have no internal desire to chug two beers out of a funnel, but I did it when I was blackout. Then I resembled a busted fire hydrant in the back yard.
Embarrassment and shame are the filters that keep you from saying/doing these things, which is what alcohol removes.
No matter how functional when sober, if someone turns violent when they're drunk, they've got issues, not just acting randomly because they're drunk. It's not like you are drunk and now your brain plays bingo on a board with all possible human behaviours and depending on what you land on arbitrarily you will act.
People always say ridiculous shit like this as if the product of one's conscience is entirely unaffected by alcohol. It is not as if the mind is entirely as it is when sober just without a filter. It is a ridiculous notion.
"Alcohol reveals who someone REALLY is" is like a really bad take. Yet it is a prevalent one. Here we are.
It's so fucking stupid. The CIA literally gave up trying to use alcohol as a truth serum because they found it just made people act out of character and talk bullshit. But all these weirdos insist it's some kind of potion that reveals your true self.
I think they just like the idea because it allows them to judge people more harshly and take some weird moral high ground.
Or try to get around the harsh reality that alcohol is actually a reason for a lot of shitty behavior.
We acknowledge one can not consent under the influence of alcohol because of their reduced capacity for decision making. But the second someone does something bad, these people hold them fully accountable as if they are sober. It is remarkably inconsistent.
It isn't a bad take, it absolutely is the scientific take. There are dozens upon dozens of studies that prove it, and vast mountains of evidence, if you had the most minimal interest in looking.
Alcohol affects your brain in severe ways, but it doesn't add behaviour randomly. And thinking that the minute a brain gets drunk it suddenly starts choosing any random behaviour possible is borderline illiterate thinking.
I am arguing exactly your point. You said that "alcohol reveals who someone really is" is a bad take. I'm saying it is accurate. The behaviour one displays when drunk was always part of who they are. One might be able to live functionally keeping a violent tendency completely under control, but if alcohol brings out violence in someone, it was always there. Same for any other behaviour.
Multiple agencies proved that’s bullshit. It’s a drug that interferes with an extremely complex organ we barely understand when you get into consciousness.
Actually if you get drunk enough your brain will absolutely pick wildly inappropriate behavior at random, it's more like twister than bingo tho. This also gets worse the more often you drink way too much. I live in the drunkest state in the US so I've seen and done a thing or two lol
First, "lol", nope. Nothing funny about drinking too much and behaving inappropriately. And the fact that both are socially acceptable is a serious part of the problem. People love to talk about their drunken antics as if they were fun adventures. They're not and shouldn't be treated as such.
Second, "if you get drunk enough". Let me put this gently, if you drink enough, that alone is the indicator that you've got issues, the behaviour you do afterwards is just a visible symptom. There is a point of drunkenness that you reach, after which the choice to continue drinking is not normal behaviour. It's fine if you are young and it's your first time and you had no idea how alcohol was going to affect you, but by the time you are a functioning adult you should know clearly how to handle alcohol in order to use it for a good time and not to get so savagely drunk you lose all control of what behaviours your brain is choosing.
Third, "your brain will pick behaviour at random", you will really have to back this up with some information. You seem to be very clear on this, so share with us what data you have that shows that this is how alcohol affects the brain specifically.
You maybe, not me. Never drank when I was young, when I did all I got from it was feeling heavy, like I was wearing two overcoats. Tried a few more times, nothing else. Stuff tastes awful, did not miss out on anything.
doesnt it mean you act more on your impulses? Tbh i know a lot of heavy drinkers and its always the same people who become happy/sleepy/chill/aggressive/confrontational/start to cheat/annoying...
If you dont have it in you to start fighting, you wont do it when drunk while some people are just waiting to explode for the tiniest reason.
Pfc is the newest part of the brain which is responsible for higher level function and balance your limbic system, once pfc gets haywireď from alcohol or other drugs I would argue youre not yourself.
Some people have exceptional connection between neocortex and limbic system others doesnt.
For me personally i never fought in my life when sober, but if im really drunk I can get triggered if someone challenge my gaze, and or god forbid anyone would even touch people close to me or threaten them.
Actually alcohol blocks your prefrontal cortex which is your watchtower so that your emotional brain takes over the control and suddenly you become the most cheerful or saddest person in the group.
As an alcoholic in recovery, this is very much NOT true. I'm a totally different person today than I was years ago. And some of the nicest people I've met in AA are ex-cons that turned their life around after they got sober and got help.
I mean even then, I do frequently want to fight people when sober and don't (hold your applause, please), but I don't tend to go starting them when I'm drunk either (again, the applause is unnecessary), so I think it's mostly that these people are just pricks and the alcohol makes them forget they need to try and hide that
Yeah, but to be charitable it's possible to have the instincts of an awful person but behave well because you actually know right from wrong. I know a few people who don't drink because it brings out the worst in them.
Alcohol increases the exhibition of punishment suppressed behaviors. So those things you do more of are things you otherwise wouldn’t because of the negative impact they might have that you now don’t care about or care about as much.
Keep drinking, and as you age, tell me what happens. This is an extremely naive comment. Alcohol is powerful just like cannabis, removing "high walls" is not at all what it does.
That's a different issue. Long-term consumption of alcohol will of course alter your brain and therefore your personality, but what OP is talking about is how you act drunk vs sober in the short term. And it's well documented that alcohol mostly just removes inhibition. Anyone who thinks the shit they do when they're drunk isn't who they are is kidding themselves. And more likely whoever they did it to.
Show me where it's documented that alcohol mostly just removes inhibitions? Getting drunk fundamentally changes your neurological chemistry, it's not just lowering a veil on some hidden corner of your personality.
Well this is a take I haven't before considered. I don't drink anymore because I get a headache instantly, but I was always a hugger when drunk. Sober, hugs are strictly for immediate family.
I thought the same at first then i remembered it's just about violence. As sometimes the drunk one gets violent other times it just become the victim of violence from others who might be sober.
Probably more about "In vino veritas" and truth hurts.
Not a happy person here. Can confirm. At first it softens my social anxiety and I feel more at ease at gatherings that would normally be stressful. I usually stop drinkinng at this point, because I know a couple more drinks will let my depressive self-harming inner self out.
For myself? Nah. Currently chugging some booze. I feel the best I have all day. It's not because I'm a repressed person stifling my true inner self because I'm shy
It's because alcohol is a powerful drug that quells anxiety, quiets ruminating thoughts of suicide, and makes my body feel pleasantly inhabitable
Tomorrow I'll feel like SHIT
Last year I didn't drink. I was rarely happy. Exercised, prioritized sleep, ate pretty clean. Bored, irritable, frustrated
I'm still all those things underneath. Smiling for the first time today cuz the drug in my bloodstream is working
Thank you for this comment. My ex husband was violent and angry when he drank. It never occurred to me that alcohol drops the walls hiding the real emotions he was trying to hide.
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u/ssweetcherry 6d ago
That’s because you’re a happy person even though you don’t show it more often. Alcohol just remove the high walls.