I almost never consume alcoholic beverages, so I’m wondering: Is it possible for a person to tell themselves beforehand, “I’m going to get really, really drunk, but must still try to seem as sober as possible” and thus control their own behavior that way?
Maybe discreetly write on the palm of their hand to read later on while inebriated, “You’re drunk. Keep your mouth shut and don’t do anything foolish?”
Of course. Most drunk people don’t lose their self control. Drinking alcohol doesn’t remove your self control, it lowers you inhibitions. If you really really really want to punch your boss in the face, but don’t, you just might find yourself punching your boss when you get drunk. If you don’t want to punch your boss in the face, you’re not going to find yourself punching him just because you’re drunk.
Plenty of people get drunk all day every day, and all they do is sit at the bar and brood and drink. They don’t run around and get in trouble, because why would they? It’s the people who are barely in control of themselves that lose control over themselves when they drink, and that’s usually not because of the alcohol, but because they give themselves permission to act however they like when they’re drunk. And if your social circle believes that actions while drunk “don’t count”, you can get away with doing all sorts of unsavory things.
My dad is an alcoholic and drinks all day, every day (along with popping pain pills). I’ve never seen him act like anyone on The Jersey Shore. No “notes to self” necessary - he’s been practicing for 50 years.
If he gets too tipsy, he does get extra talkative and gets wild ideas about doing things like driving to Burger King, but that’s about as far as it goes.
The question isn’t entirely clear but you said “try to seem as sober as possible”. If you mean, is it possible for a drunk person to act completely sober, so that no one could tell he/she was drunk, I would say no. When you’re drunk your balance and coordination is compromised and no amount of conscious self control will completely hide that fact. That’s why cops have you walk a straight line, touch your nose, etc. to detect intoxication. The possibility of arrest is a very strong motivation but nevertheless people generally can’t pass such tests when they’re drunk.
–Mark
Really, really drunk is not a precise measurement of blood alcohol level, but usually when people say they were or are or will be really, really drunk they’re talking about the point where there would be some self control issues. Even then it doesn’t mean they’ll blab all their secrets or start telling off the boss or something like that. However some people don’t require much alcohol before they really, really can’t control themselves.
Some people, particularly alcoholics, or those with a long history of drinking problems, can become quite adept at hiding how drunk they are. Mostly it seems to be a matter of not trying to do anything that will give the game away, rather than a need to maintain “self control”. Until they start slurring their words, or falling over walking, people that don’t know them well can often be unaware of how far gone they are. Then again, many people with drinking issues don’t ever get to the slurred words, falling over stage - but just remain almost permanently intoxicated at a lower level. It is the binge drinker that gets seriously drunk. Some alcoholics are binge drinkers, but most are not.
Back in the days before speed cameras, a policeman friend of mine told me that a sure fire way of spotting a drunk diver at night, was to stop the guy who was driving at exactly the speed limit and carefully obeying all the stop signs etc.
According to this site the heel toe test is only 68% accurate for a BAC of .10 so obviously there is plenty of leeway for looking sober. If one third of the time an officially prescribed test designed to show drunkenness cannot show it the gap must be even bigger in less demanding behaviors
Professional drunks don’t get really, really drunk. That’s for amateurs.
So what was his excuse from stopping the guy?
Lemur866 nailed it. Nobody but you is in control of yourself at any time, regardless of being intoxicated (and that goes for any drug, not just alcohol). You feel different, and some people use that as an excuse to act like a jackass, or an obnoxious child. As some pointed out, you may have some physiological motor impairment, but you’re still in control.
New Years Eve 2000 I passed all the road tests: heel-to-toe, finger-to-nose, counting, alphabet, and the cop asked me to voluntarily take a breathalyzer, but made clear I didn’t have to. I blew .17 bac. Cop had another passenger drive my car.
People react differently to alcohol.
I don’t drink much; I’ve been good and drunk maybe a few dozen times in my 58 years. Normally as I get imbibed I tend to forget drinking.
Last time I got really plowed was at a private new years eve party by and for a bunch of musicians. There was punch and a bottle of vodka, I spiked it; turns out it was already strong. I didn’t play much worse than usual and was able to pack up my fairly complicated keyboard rig, but I often do that with 2 or 3 drinks in me.
Unusually, I didn’t feel dizzy/drunk, but I knew I had to be and handed the keys to my wife. On the way home we were stopped at a light and I asked his many stoplights. I saw 4 but as I’d guessed, she said 2. I’d never seen double like that before. But I knew I was drunk and had enough sense to not do anything stupid.
At 16 I had a 15-yr-old roommate who was an alcoholic. I could never even tell when he was drunk but sometimes he’d tell me. I knew it wasn’t BS because he took me drinking a couple times. I learned a lot from that.
Of course, I’ve seen people get drunk and act way out of character, and show a complete lack of sense including recklessly endangering their lives. I don’t think there’s a single correct answer to the question. That is, some people can, but I bet some people can’t.
There is always something… Failing to stop at a halt sign; not signalling; crossing a double white line… It’s a strange cop that can’t follow a car for a few minutes and NOT find a legal enough reason to pull it over. Of course, once he sniffs the driver’s breath, it’s goodby licence.
Well, to use one high-profile example… Alice Cooper was a major alcoholic for much of his life, but he’ll tell you that he was a VERY high-functioning alcoholic. He says he never missed a gig or a band rehearsal due to his drinking, and rarely did or said anything while drunk to male himself obnoxious to people. Oh sure, people who saw him up close could tell, “Cripes, I smell booze all over him,” but people in the audience rarely saw a problem.
Now, physically, he was KILLING himself with booze. That’s why he HAD to quit. But somehow, even at his lowest, he managed to keep his career going, to perform on stage adequately, and make it back to the hotel and the tour bus in one piece.
So, apparently, some people have the mental discipline to get through their responsibilities even while constantly inebriated.
What about people getting on the freeway the wrong way and plowing head on into another car? Are they still in any kind of control?
It’s not like you can get staggering drunk and not know you’re staggering drunk. Yes, you can choose to get behind the wheel of your car, knowing that you’re so impaired that you’re not safe to drive. The alcohol didn’t make that decision for you.
When you see a news story about a staggering drunk person plowing into a bus full of orphans, you can bet a million dollars that this isn’t the very first time that person was driving drunk. Fact is, most drunk drivers make it home safely.
Lots of professional drunks never kill anybody from drunk driving, because they drink at home, or they walk home. If you had a medical condition that made it unsafe for you to drive, like severe epilepsy, and you drove anyway, whose fault is that? Yes, you aren’t in control of your seizure disorder. It’s not your fault that every so often you lose control over your voluntary muscles. It is your fault if you get behind the wheel of a car anyway.
Yes, but when a person is staggering drunk, they think that they can drive (or fight good etc) and usually end up in their car.
I disagree that getting staggering drunk makes you think you can drive good, or fight good. I know plenty of drunks who know that being drunk makes them hopeless. These drunks never get in their cars, or start fights in bars.
Everyone knows that being drunk makes you a worse driver. Some people do it anyway. And it wasn’t because they were so drunk they forgot that being drunk makes you a worse driver.
A “good drunk” is someone who, when they get drunk, displays characteristics that are socially positive or innocuous - they maybe get talkative, they loosen up a bit, become more sociable, etc.
A “bad drunk” is someone who, when they get drunk, displays characteristics that are socially negative. They get moody, aggressive, violent, mulish, weepy, make bad choices (like driving, or sleeping with a married coworker when married themselves), etc.
Some people are predictably one way or the other (that is, for some unfortunate people, every time they drink it goes badly); for others, it varies. It isn’t necessarily related to their character (I disagree with the theory that people show their ‘true selves’ when drunk). I have had friends who were good, kind people, but who know better than to drink, because they are very “bad drunks”.
It is harder to tell if someone is drunk if they are, basically, a “good drunk”. Part of being a good drunk is that you aren’t out of control. You can still smell it on them of course, and if drunk enough, there are other symptoms that can’t be hidden.