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Can alcohol turn otherwise nice people into supercharged assh0les? (pg. 2)
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| Mr.Mystery |
I know a couple of people who transform to someone else if they drink certain alcohols. They're completely fine as long as they stick to beer but as soon as they take one shot of vodka or scotch, they just... change. You can see it in their eyes that they're no longer the person they usually are.
I'm sure the effects of alcohol are psychosomatic for a lot of people, but then there's this other group of people who just completely transform to someone else. |
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| Jon_Snow |
| That's my take on it, it lowers inhibitions that and social component of group behavior (vandalism, hazing, etc). |
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| Silky Johnson |
| quote: | Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
There's loads of research out there suggesting that much of "drunkenness" is psycho-somatic. There are studies showing people act drunk when they think they're drinking alcohol even if they're not, that people act more drunk around other drunken people, that many of the regrettable decisions people make when drunk are things they want to do anyway, and alcohol is used as an excuse. There's the way people can suddenly and sharply sober up if confronted with a shocking situation or if they suddenly need to act sober.
The thing is, 95% of people don't turn into someone completely different when they're drunk. Look at almost anyone and their drunken behaviour can be completely attributed to:
Personality + Lowered Inhibition + Impaired Judgement + Social Situation
And yet we all know someone who's that person. Someone who's a complete ing nightmare when drunk. Is there any evidence that alcohol has a fundamentally different effect on their brain, that it can conjure up behaviour that simply isn't there otherwise? If there is evidence I'd be fascinated to read it, but right now I don't believe in this idea. I believe there's an inner surrender that these people make, often gleefully, a will to lose control. |
Blahblahblah. Dopamine rules all.
But seriously, yes. Some people are born with a much more sensitive dopamine response. Which would make them gigantic s when they drink. Honestly there's tons of research on it. Just Google alcohol + dopamine + pyschology + addiction. Etc etc. |
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| Alex |
Yeah that whole type of alcohol thing is weird.
I know some people that can drink untold amounts of vodka and all that happens to them is they act completely normal then fall asleep all of a sudden.
On the other hand a few of my friends really love scotch and don't treat it as a "savor this" kind of drink and after three or four scotches forget how to sit down and collide with walls. |
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| Silky Johnson |
| I don't know many people who can drink rye without becoming all aggro. |
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| Silky Johnson |
| I talked about him on here ages ago after I heard him speak live, when In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts came out. |
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| Alex |
| quote: | Originally posted by OrangestO
I love Dr. Gabor Maté's work in the area of addiction.
Just picked this book up, for anyone else who's interested in the subject. Because ultimately that's what this thread is about.
http://www.amazon.com/Realm-Hungry-...f+hungry+ghosts
Yay Canada! |
Cool.
I actually blog about addiction issues for one of my clients.
What's sad is that addiction has been around for, well, a long ing time, yet in North America medical students for instance are only now learning about it in their curriculum.
Yes some GPs, internists and psychiatrists specialize in addiction, but a large number (possibly the majority) of medical professionals don't actually know that much about it.
Luckily treatment facilities exist, and the counselors there generally know the ins and outs of alcoholism, drug dependency and stuff, but a lot of people these days are slipping through the cracks because the realm of addiction science has become very standardized.
Obviously standardizing treatment approaches saves lots of lives, but there are a lot of nuances unique to a specific person's addictive behavior that are key to their recovery that are largely overlooked. |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| quote: | Originally posted by OrangestO
Because ultimately that's what this thread is about. |
Elaborate. |
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| Jon_Snow |
| quote: | Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
Elaborate. |
:whip: |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| quote: | Originally posted by Silky Johnson
But seriously, yes. Some people are born with a much more sensitive dopamine response. Which would make them gigantic s when they drink. Honestly there's tons of research on it. Just Google alcohol + dopamine + pyschology + addiction. Etc etc. |
I'm aware that addicts get a bigger dopamine response from alcohol which makes it more pleasurable to them and more likely for them to binge, but I don't see where the "gigantic " part comes in. |
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| AlphaStarred |
| quote: | Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
You will never completely lose control unless part of you wants to. |
I agree with this. No matter how drunk I got, I still knew exactly what I was doing and remembered everything.
Some people report blacking out or not remembering stuff, but this never happened to me. |
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