# Excessive drinking: next day impact on emotions and thoughts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629 "2011-07-11T15:32:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ecoaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/85e7bf/32.png) [@ecoaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ecoaster)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/1 "2011-07-11T15:32:01Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/2 "2011-07-11T16:05:02Z")
I’d have the hangover and feel drained, but I’ve never experienced any unusual emotional effects other than feeling generally crap about feeling sick. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/3 "2011-07-11T16:56:44Z")
In the trade, we sometimes refer to the affective state of people in the throes of or after intoxication by the general term of “addict babble”. Basically because there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason or meaning to the phenomenon in general. Individual mileage may vary. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/4 "2011-07-11T17:25:36Z")
Well you’ve just upset your brain chemistry. Seems sensible your thought processes would be affected while it recovers, no? ---
**Author:** ![CTburns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a5b964/32.png) [@CTburns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CTburns)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/5 "2011-07-13T02:34:17Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![JessMagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@JessMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JessMagic)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/6 "2011-07-13T06:12:16Z")
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. It’s horrible! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/7 "2011-07-13T06:26:33Z")
I refer the OP to P.G. Wodehouse’s [six classes of hangover](http://randomhouseaustralia.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/p-g-wodehouse%E2%80%99s-classification-of-hangovers-by-milton-crawford/): > [@](#): > > The Broken Compass, the Sewing Machine, the Comet, the Atomic, the Cement Mixer and, of course, the Gremlin Boogie. The “Broken Compass” is the one you describe. > [@](#): > > what Kingsley Amis might have called ‘a metaphysical hangover’: you feel directionless, indecisive and futile ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/8 "2011-07-13T06:27:57Z")
Definitely, booze come downs are depressing as absolute hell. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/9 "2011-07-13T12:19:29Z")
> [@the lone cashew](#): > > Definitely, booze come downs are depressing as absolute hell. Absolut Hell ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/10 "2011-07-13T13:39:58Z")
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!! ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/11 "2011-07-13T14:13:07Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![abel29a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@abel29a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abel29a)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/12 "2011-07-13T15:45:25Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/13 "2011-07-13T15:50:37Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/14 "2011-07-13T15:54:40Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/15 "2011-07-13T16:43:07Z")
It’s the main symptom I get after a night’s drinking, I rarely feel sick, just tired and futile, and emotional. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/16 "2011-07-13T22:11:30Z")
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. :)) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/17 "2011-07-13T22:25:26Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > (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. :)) Practice 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/18 "2011-07-14T00:09:44Z")
I feel that way if I’ve not had a drink the night before… ---
**Author:** ![Mycole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b782af/32.png) [@Mycole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycole)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/19 "2013-03-25T14:30:45Z")
> [@ecoaster](#): > > 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? 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. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629/20 "2013-03-25T15:12:11Z")
> [@Mycole](#): > > 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. If drinking leads to bad outcomes 60% of the time you drink, you may want to consider not drinking. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excessive-drinking-next-day-impact-on-emotions-and-thoughts/588629.md?page=2)