When I was younger and drank too much I would awake the next day with a typical hangover. As the hangover subsided, I would enter a very sensitive mental/emotional state I can only describe as extremely vivid. I would cry at interactions between others that struck me as very humane- e.g. a teenager helping an old lady off a bus. I definitely felt morose and dark but I also noticed that I made mental connections and had thoughts that were very psychoanalytical (not unlike what my mind did under the influence of mushrooms, which I’ve done 2x). I felt that I could think more lucidly than normal and when I wrote notes down about my thoughts they made perfect sense days later.
I can’t find anything online about the specific way in which alcohol impacts thought content or process after drinking (12-24 hours).
Anyone want to share their own experiences or point me to something specific that explores the impact of alcohol on the brain right after a binge?
My good friend was just telling me that he has always been emotionally unsettled after binge drinking.
After a cookout last weekend at his house, he seemed in good spirits when we left the following morning. He told me that he became anxious and sad later on in the day, and that he frequently feels like that after a day of drinking. Even when he doesn’t consider himself particularly hung-over.
Bad hangovers make me worry about life in general, and particularly about problems at work. I’m a natural worrier anyway, but this is intensified after a big night out.
Ugh. I’m hungover right now. I feel like that scene in the beginning of Saving Private Ryan where Tom Hanks almost gets blow’d up and his ears are ringing AND EVERYONE SOUNDS THEY ARE QUIETLY SCREAMING AT HIM LIKE THIS!!
When I was younger, I had to consume much to produce a hangover, and the main symptoms were headaches, nausea, and grogginess. As I’ve aged, the symptoms now include depression, despair, and feelings of worthlessness, and it takes less alcohol to get to that state. As a result I limit myself to 2 drinks, but most often I avoid alcohol completely. Life’s too short to waste a Sunday feeling like shit.
Same as others here, altough I dont really get hung over or feel physically ill (too much practice I suppose), I will usually feel slightly depressed as the day wears on. If after a particular hard binge, with subsequent blank periods, I might get extra twitchy trying to remember what I actually did/said. Sometimes I have to call other who were present, to see if I did/said something particularily stupid
My pet theory is that it’s a balance thing - when drunk I usually have a very good time, lots of laughs, and so the mood the day after is darker than normal, so as to bring my total mood for the two days down to average…
Doesn’t alcohol, or at least some forms of it, affect the dopamin balance in the brain? Blocking or flooding receptors? So after an overload, suddenly there’s a crash when the stuff that makes you feel happy is missing.
My hangovers are usually accompanied by the opposite. I feel like I’m 20 IQ points dumber and can’t concentrate. The mental effects seem to last longer than the headache, nausea, etc.
When really hungover I get tearful at things like TV commercials.
(I’ve been enjoying hangovers for more than two decades now, had blood and a liver function test on Monday, got the results today: my liver is working perfectly. As is platelet count, blood oxygen, kidney function, cholesterol and blood glucose. Must be my Irish genes. :))
Wow, what you just said describes me to a T after a night of binge drinking. This past weekend, after a night of getting extremely drunk, my mom was talking about how her sister’s dog gets on her nerves because she is very needy. I got really upset and almost cried because I felt so bad for the dog. I get super emotional and really psychoanalytical. I don’t feel like that every single time I drink, just maybe 60% of the time. Sometimes it lasts more than 24 hours and gradually fades away over the course of a few days. I need to start writing down my feelings after a night of binge drinking. My thoughts and feelings are just as you described - more dark and morose.
