# Why do you get drunk, chemically speaking?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-get-drunk-chemically-speaking/294302>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 13, 2005, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-get-drunk-chemically-speaking/294302 "2005-03-13T06:14:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![robin.allene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8dc957/32.png) [@robin.allene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robin.allene)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-get-drunk-chemically-speaking/294302/1 "2005-03-13T06:14:51Z")

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I am a biochem student, and have been unable to get any of my professors to give me an answer on this one… what processes are going on in your body that cause the symptoms of being drunk, ie dizziness, slow reflexes, vision problems, etc? I’d love to know why/how this happens in as much detail as anyone can muster…

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**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-get-drunk-chemically-speaking/294302/2 "2005-03-13T07:15:16Z")

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WAG, Histotoxic hypoxia. A phrase I coined years ago that seems to sum it all up. Hypoxia[lowered oxygen level] that is toxic to bodily tissues. Alcohol molecules block the transfer of oxygen, causing changes in body chemistry, leading to the symptoms noted in the OP. A disruption of the chemical balance that usually leads to normal sensation, nerve impulses and muscular coordination. Or evil spirits are dancing in your head. Either one works for me.

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**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-get-drunk-chemically-speaking/294302/3 "2005-03-13T07:47:54Z")

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IIRC neuroscience correctly, it is thought that alcohol does a number on the GABA-ergic neurons in the brain, which is responsible for many of the symptoms of drunkenness. My suspicion is that ethanol, a lipid-soluble drug that permeates all tissues of the body, probably has a whole bunch of effects throughout many different systems and that the state of drunkenness is really just a culmination of all of them.