# What influences someones behavior when intoxicated? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 6, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193 "2020-04-06T15:49:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aaronhernandez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@aaronhernandez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaronhernandez)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/1 "2020-04-06T15:49:09Z")
I’ve always wondered this. Why can some people have two or three drinks and don’t change much. They can even function normally as alcoholics with the exception of the smell of alcohol under their breath. Others take the same amount and become completely loopy, flirty, happy, or extremely angry. What causes this? Is it mainly genetics? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/2 "2020-04-06T16:11:01Z")
Lots of factors - body size, did you eat anything so the alcohol is absorbed more slowly, social expectations. Also practice - some people have a lot of experience acting normally when intoxicated, and have learned to compensate their behavior. Some groups, I believe, have lower levels of the enzymes that break down alcohol so they get drunk on smaller amounts. > [@](#): > > Very little alcohol enters fat because of fat’s poor solubility. Blood and tissue concentrations are therefore higher in women, who have more subcutaneous fat and a smaller blood volume, than in men, even when the amount of alcohol consumed is adjusted for body weight. Women also may have lower levels of alcohol dehydrogenases in the stomach than men, so that less alcohol is metabolised before absorption. Alcohol enters the fetus readily through the placenta and is eliminated by maternal metabolism. > > Blood alcohol concentration varies according to sex, size and body build, phase of the menstrual cycle (it is highest premenstrually and at ovulation), previous exposure to alcohol, type of drink, whether alcohol is taken with food or drugs, such as cimetidine (which inhibits gastric alcohol dehydrogenase) and antihistamines, phenothiazines, and metoclopramide (which enhance gastric emptying, thus increasing absorption). [Cite](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC543875/). Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/3 "2020-04-06T16:27:14Z")
Something else I’ve always thought is that we’re all constantly making an effort to “put on” the personality we want to project. Alcohol suppresses your ability to do that, so the underlying personality comes out. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/4 "2020-04-06T16:50:38Z")
The drunken **Shodan** speaks the sober truth. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/5 "2020-04-06T16:57:41Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > Something else I’ve always thought is that we’re all constantly making an effort to “put on” the personality we want to project. Alcohol suppresses your ability to do that, so the underlying personality comes out. In vino veritas I always wished I could be one of those people that drank more. I’m the guy that’s very clearly tipsy after one or two beers when all my friends are already on #6 or 7 and still acting like they were before they started drinking. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/6 "2020-04-06T17:14:45Z")
> [@aaronhernandez](#): > > I’ve always wondered this. Why can some people have two or three drinks and don’t change much. They can even function normally as alcoholics with the exception of the smell of alcohol under their breath. Others take the same amount and become completely loopy, flirty, happy, or extremely angry. > > What causes this? Is it mainly genetics? First of all, interesting userhandle, lol. I would say that even people who don’t change much change in subtle ways. I’m fairly good at holding my liquor socially (save my odd drunken rant here). I’ve had people tell me a day or two later “I didn’t know you’d had that much to drink - you seemed normal.” But I noticed that even in subtle ways, I’d say things I normally wouldn’t, phrase things in ways I normally wouldn’t. I knew a guy who was always chatty but he would get hyper-aggressive and verbally confrontational after three or four drinks. It was really just a cartoonish version of who he already was, and I suspect that this is really what alcohol does. It just removes all guard rails, takes away the filter. People either become sleepy, dull drunks or cartoonish, clownish, pathetic versions of their “persona”. Getting drunk can, in odd ways, release some creativity during the buzzed phase, but when it gets to the really drunk phase, it’s time to hit the lights, because the party’s over. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/7 "2020-04-06T17:55:03Z")
OK. First, I’m going to mention that I’m Jewish, because statistically, alcoholism is rarer among Jews than other ethnic groups. That does not mean we don’t have alcoholics. We just have a statistically significant number fewer. What’s interesting, though, is that you also find very few Jews who don’t drink at all. I’m one, but it’s not on principle, it’s for health reasons. I did used to drink, albeit, never very much. It’s always been my observation that Jews have a sui generis drinking pattern-- any excuse for a shot or a toast, and then maybe nurse another glass of something over the course of a gathering, if there is one, but never more than one. I know a lot of people who think it has to do with the fact that we’ve had alcohol for a much longer time than other people. I have no idea if there is any actual research behind that, but it would make sense. So there’s a point for genes. On the flip side, Native Americans, who have had alcohol for a very short time have a real problem with alcoholism. FWIW, when I did drink, I never got drunk very fast, but I think part of it had to do with the fact that I don’t like alcohol enough to drink it like Coca-Cola, so it doesn’t get in my system very fast. Most Jews I know drink that way, even college students. So there’s a little culture behind it as well. We’re used to getting sips of wine at the table, or a teaspoon of wine in a Sprite glass on a holiday. There’s not a lot of mystery around alcohol, and since most of us never saw our parents drunk, we never thought of alcohol as being for the purpose of getting drunk. So, there’s culture, too. Just my take. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/8 "2020-04-06T19:34:13Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > Something else I’ve always thought is that we’re all constantly making an effort to “put on” the personality we want to project. Alcohol suppresses your ability to do that, so the underlying personality comes out. Yep, alcohol is truth serum. It releases our inhibitions and gives rise to whatever is underneath. Hence, angry drunks. I’m not much of a drinker, but I’m glad that on the rare occasions I’ve been loaded I mostly want to tell everyone how much I love them. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/9 "2020-04-06T21:18:39Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > … but I’m glad that on the rare occasions I’ve been loaded I mostly want to tell everyone how much I love them. Me too, I get all sentimental. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/10 "2020-04-07T03:09:47Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > OK. First, I’m going to mention that I’m Jewish, because statistically, alcoholism is rarer among Jews than other ethnic groups. That does not mean we don’t have alcoholics. We just have a statistically significant number fewer. > > What’s interesting, though, is that you also find very few Jews who don’t drink at all. I’m one, but it’s not on principle, it’s for health reasons. > > I did used to drink, albeit, never very much. It’s always been my observation that Jews have a sui generis drinking pattern-- any excuse for a shot or a toast, and then maybe nurse another glass of something over the course of a gathering, if there is one, but never more than one. > > I know a lot of people who think it has to do with the fact that we’ve had alcohol for a much longer time than other people. I have no idea if there is any actual research behind that, but it would make sense. > > So there’s a point for genes. > > On the flip side, Native Americans, who have had alcohol for a very short time have a real problem with alcoholism. > > FWIW, when I did drink, I never got drunk very fast, but I think part of it had to do with the fact that I don’t like alcohol enough to drink it like Coca-Cola, so it doesn’t get in my system very fast. Most Jews I know drink that way, even college students. > > So there’s a little culture behind it as well. We’re used to getting sips of wine at the table, or a teaspoon of wine in a Sprite glass on a holiday. There’s not a lot of mystery around alcohol, and since most of us never saw our parents drunk, we never thought of alcohol as being for the purpose of getting drunk. > > So, there’s culture, too. > > Just my take. I think Native American alcoholism is probably not materially different than alcohol and drug abuse in other communities that struggle with social problems. Substance abuse is often reflective of depression. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/11 "2020-04-07T04:32:32Z")
I ran into a gringo who’d built a ferrocement catamaran in Los Angeles, sailed the world, and beached in Guatemala where he lived royally on US retirement checks. He said, based on his global experience, that all indigenous peoples exposed to Western alcohol were ruined by it. Take that for what it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/12 "2020-04-07T04:39:23Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > I ran into a gringo who’d built a ferrocement catamaran in Los Angeles, sailed the world, and beached in Guatemala where he lived royally on US retirement checks. He said, based on his global experience, that all indigenous peoples exposed to Western alcohol were ruined by it. Take that for what it’s worth. Whats the difference between Western and Eastern alcohol? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/13 "2020-04-07T05:40:56Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > On the flip side, Native Americans, who have had alcohol for a very short time have a real problem with alcoholism. Native Americans have made fermented alcohol drinks for thousands of years, including _chicha fuerte_ from corn and _pulque_ from maguey sap, long before the arrival of Columbus. These had relatively low alcohol content like weak beer or wine. Distilled spirits became common in Europe only in the late 1300s. Native Americans would have been exposed to them pretty much as soon as they were in contact with Europeans after 1500, so only a few hundred years later. There’s not a big difference in the amount of time Native Americans have been exposed to alcoholic beverages compared to Jews. ---
**Author:** ![ALOHA\_HATER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@ALOHA\_HATER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ALOHA_HATER)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/14 "2020-04-07T23:17:36Z")
Drugs pretty much do what you expect them to. Think booze will make you flirty? It will, then. It’s set and setting, & expecations more than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/15 "2020-04-08T00:27:44Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Whats the difference between Western and Eastern alcohol? I was reporting, not analyzing. He may have meant non-traditional imported firewater. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/16 "2020-04-08T16:41:10Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Native Americans have made fermented alcohol drinks for thousands of years, including _chicha fuerte_ from corn and _pulque_ from maguey sap, long before the arrival of Columbus. These had relatively low alcohol content like weak beer or wine. Distilled spirits became common in Europe only in the late 1300s. Native Americans would have been exposed to them pretty much as soon as they were in contact with Europeans after 1500, so only a few hundred years later. There’s not a big difference in the amount of time Native Americans have been exposed to alcoholic beverages compared to Jews. Speaking specifically about Native American tribes in North America, they had much less experience with alcohol. > [@](#): > > Before European colonization, the native population of the territory that would eventually become the United States was relatively naïve to alcohol’s effects. Some tribes produced weak beers or other fermented beverages, but these were generally used only for ceremonial purposes. The distillation of more potent and thus more abusable forms of alcohol was unknown. [Cite](https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh22-4/253.pdf). So I don’t think it is very accurate to say that Native Americans and Jews had the same historical exposure to alcohol. Some tribal groups, sure, but in general, that seems a little too sweeping. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/17 "2020-04-08T16:57:50Z")
I’m quiet. Drinking makes me even more quiet. So it’s kind of hard to tell the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/18 "2020-04-08T17:25:54Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Speaking specifically about Native American tribes in North America, they had much less experience with alcohol. > [Cite](https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh22-4/253.pdf). > > So I don’t think it is very accurate to say that Native Americans and Jews had the same historical exposure to alcohol. Some tribal groups, sure, but in general, that seems a little too sweeping. > > Regards, > Shodan Most Native American groups have similar problems with alcohol, not just those in North America. My point was that that these problems are unlikely to be correlated with the amount of time they have been exposed to alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![KMS94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ad7895/32.png) [@KMS94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KMS94)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/19 "2020-04-08T17:45:48Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > Yep, alcohol is truth serum. It releases our inhibitions and gives rise to whatever is underneath. It also vastly improved both my signing voice and dancing skills, back when I was a drinker…⭕D ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193/20 "2020-04-08T18:52:39Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Also practice - some people have a lot of experience acting normally when intoxicated, and have learned to compensate their behavior. “Do you know why so many drunk drivers get in wrecks? It’s ‘cause they don’t learn to drive drunk.” - Chainsaw, _Summer School_ I don’t drink all that often, and when I do it’s usually not much. Even when I drink a lot I have a reasonably high tolerance. I don’t get tipsy as quickly as people I drink with and I seem to recover pretty quickly. That’s probably something genetic I guess. Alcohol’s effect on my behavior is odd. I get nervous about losing inhibitions so I get more careful. I’m a little more guarded and quiet. I think it might be a fear of inebriation making me vulnerable. So it seems like it has the opposite effect. On the other hand, I do definitely have bad motor control, feel sleepy, have trouble thinking, and so on (the normal physical effects), it’s mostly the psychological response which is odd. I generally don’t like drinking much (which is why I rarely do it). And I never drive drunk of course, I’ve even refused to drive after drinking a little, even when others have said I’m being paranoid. I’d rather be paranoid than kill myself and take some innocent person with me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-influences-someones-behavior-when-intoxicated/851193.md?page=2)