Do the effects of alcohol on a given person change as that person ages?
I’m 38, and I don’t know if
a. I am imagining this effect
b. I’m not remembering how I acted in the past
c. It is not age related, by related to the general psychological landscape of my life at present
d. real,
but it seems to me that I am more of a “mean drunk” now than when I started drinking (which for me was relatively late: 21). It is not pronounced; I’m not going to bars and getting into fights, it is just that now one beer on an empty stomach can make me sarcastic, stubborn, etc. when I remeber just becoming talkative & happy when younger.
It happens, usually with those who drink a lot. As we age, we face and handle stresses differently. In our 20s, most of us feel immortal and unstoppable. By 30, most of us realize we are not. So, the cheery, drunken attitude can suffer for booze is an uninhibitor, which means we might spew forth a lot of stuff that irritates, angers or we fear that normally we would keep to ourselves.
By the time I hit 35, it was noticed by friends that when smashed, I was often no fun, belligerent, often apt to detonate at the slightest trigger or sullen. I had to cut my drinking way down and even today, might get happy, but never smashed. Plus, I noticed in myself and have heard from other drinkers that as they aged, they know within a drink or two if they are going to have fun or not. If not, then they make the drinks last or stop drinking.
Plus, by 30, the body has changed, has begun to slow down, accumulate bits of damage from idiot stunts when 20, reflexes drop a bit and emotional out look often alters. At 25 one could drink all night, get up after an hours sleep, go to work, feel bad, but put in a days worth on the job, get off work feeling OK, and go out and party a bit that night. At 35, often one awakens with the hangover and feel like they’re about to die. They’ll skip work or not do a real good job and might feel like crap by days end and might prefer to sleep afterwards instead of going out.
Changes in the body.
Plus, real heavy drunks destroy brain cells. That effect accumulates over the years and can change the drunken personality.
Gave that shit up at 32 before I became a mean drunk. Ann Landers said if you can’t give it up for three months at any time then you’ve got a problem. Any three months : (Christmas/New Years? No way!) (Birthday? NO Way!) (4th of July? No Way!!). Ann Landers can be a goof, but she’s right about this one. Check it out yourself.
I have observed this phenomenon as well. I have a good friend who used to be a jolly, I-love-everybody drunk, but who has gradually morphed into a “Who-you-lookin’-at?” mean drunk. He seems to be veering into alcoholism, too. Are the two phenomena connected?
So everybody who gets mean when they’re drunk is really a mean, horrible person at heart? I’ve been around a lot of drunks, and I don’t believe that at all.
Mr. Athena and I have noticed that if we drink too much, there’s definitely a higher chance of a fight coming on. It usually happens because one of us interprets the others actions or words differently than they were intended. We’ve been consciously trying to NOT open that second bottle of champagne since the first one tasted so good, because it seems to lead to mayhem at least part of the time.
“So everybody who gets mean when they’re drunk is really a mean, horrible person at heart?”
No. If you are feeling mean & can’t express it sober, getting drunk is one way to unmask it. If you are sleepy & don’t know it, getting drunk may unmask that & youll be so very sleepy then.