# anyone becoming a "Mean Drunk" as they age? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 2, 2001, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-becoming-a-mean-drunk-as-they-age/52809 "2001-02-02T02:25:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![djbdjb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@djbdjb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djbdjb)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-becoming-a-mean-drunk-as-they-age/52809/1 "2001-02-02T02:25:06Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-becoming-a-mean-drunk-as-they-age/52809/2 "2001-02-02T02:26:53Z")
Don’t know if the effects change as much as the person does. It is easy to be a happy go lucky drunk when nothing matters. ---
**Author:** ![IBBen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85f322/32.png) [@IBBen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IBBen)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-becoming-a-mean-drunk-as-they-age/52809/3 "2001-02-02T02:31:33Z")
nothing matters ---
**Author:** ![Shiva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@Shiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shiva)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-becoming-a-mean-drunk-as-they-age/52809/4 "2001-02-02T02:39:08Z")
I’m mellowing with age (38 too). May I suggest a change in poison intake procedure? Try drinking only good beers at a slow, apreciative pace. ---
**Author:** ![Adventurious82](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e495f1/32.png) [@Adventurious82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adventurious82)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-becoming-a-mean-drunk-as-they-age/52809/5 "2001-02-02T07:15:06Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![dustMagnate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/fbc32d/32.png) [@dustMagnate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dustMagnate)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-becoming-a-mean-drunk-as-they-age/52809/6 "2001-02-02T13:57:10Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-becoming-a-mean-drunk-as-they-age/52809/7 "2001-02-02T17:03:48Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-becoming-a-mean-drunk-as-they-age/52809/8 "2001-02-02T17:20:47Z")
I would say that alcohol just unmasks a person. Itself does not change a person. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-becoming-a-mean-drunk-as-they-age/52809/9 "2001-02-02T19:38:01Z")
> [@](#): > > I would say that alcohol just unmasks a person. Itself does not change a person. 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. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-becoming-a-mean-drunk-as-they-age/52809/10 "2001-02-02T22:19:19Z")
> [@](#): > > 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 This seems rather extreme. If I don’t have a problem, why should I give up alcohol for three months, just to prove I don’t have a problem? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-becoming-a-mean-drunk-as-they-age/52809/11 "2001-02-02T23:44:07Z")
“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.