Types of Drunkenness
November 15, 2006 2:02 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for sources (all types from literary to scientific; jocose to serious, etc) discussing or detailing the different types of drunken states that alcohol produces (example, it is often said wine makes one more sensitive whilst whiskey makes one more aggressive, etc).
I am already familiar with Modern Drunkard Magazine.
The emotional response to varying degrees of alcohol intoxication is to a large extent socially constructed and capable of modulating and constraining the obvious physical effects. Personality, ethnicity, class, and gender have a lot to do with how different people behave when drunk. And of course, there is varying efficiency of detoxification between different people's livers, based on patterns of use and gentic predispositions. The hoboes link is good, as is the Passport to the Pub. Anyone who's seen, say, a bunch of Finns drinking in a culturally typical bar, versus a bunch of Irish, versus a bunch of USians will quickly appreciate the vast differences that are possible.
There's also some interesting work from a decades long study of alcoholics and their relatives from SUNY Downstate (under the late Henri Begleiter), that indicates a higher prevalence of a very characteristic neural disinhibitory deficit in populations at risk for alcoholism. The deficit can be identified externally using some clever electrophysiological monitoring of subjects performing some cognitive tasks. Some genetic correlates have also been identified on several chromosomes.
As a side note, I am Irish, and I grew up in pub. Literally - I was sent there after school every day for all my single digit years because one of my parents worked there. It was cheap daycare. I learned a lot about drunkeness at a very young age. It comes in many forms. Some people will act like arseholes after half a pint whereas others can remain lucid and amiable well into the tenth or so.
posted by meehawl at 3:33 PM on November 15, 2006
There's also some interesting work from a decades long study of alcoholics and their relatives from SUNY Downstate (under the late Henri Begleiter), that indicates a higher prevalence of a very characteristic neural disinhibitory deficit in populations at risk for alcoholism. The deficit can be identified externally using some clever electrophysiological monitoring of subjects performing some cognitive tasks. Some genetic correlates have also been identified on several chromosomes.
As a side note, I am Irish, and I grew up in pub. Literally - I was sent there after school every day for all my single digit years because one of my parents worked there. It was cheap daycare. I learned a lot about drunkeness at a very young age. It comes in many forms. Some people will act like arseholes after half a pint whereas others can remain lucid and amiable well into the tenth or so.
posted by meehawl at 3:33 PM on November 15, 2006
This entire thread, actually, contains a number of useful descriptions and generalizations of alcohol varietals' effects on different MeFites.
posted by limeonaire at 4:32 PM on November 15, 2006
posted by limeonaire at 4:32 PM on November 15, 2006
I've always enjoyed this site about alcohol. A lot of scientific stuff that you may not need, but there is a section on "experiences" that is quite entertaining.
Not really scientific, but interesting none the less.
posted by chitlin at 4:42 PM on November 15, 2006
Not really scientific, but interesting none the less.
posted by chitlin at 4:42 PM on November 15, 2006
Hmm, guess img tags aren't part of the fun anymore.
http://www.houseoffun.com/store/m&c/art/mc-tee4.gif
posted by oats at 7:47 PM on November 15, 2006
http://www.houseoffun.com/store/m&c/art/mc-tee4.gif
posted by oats at 7:47 PM on November 15, 2006
I think that this book was mentioned by Modern Drunkard, but in case you haven't heard of it, On Drink, by Kingsley Amis, is one of the best books on the topic, IMO. (It's out of print now, unfortunately.)
posted by veronica sawyer at 1:59 PM on November 16, 2006
posted by veronica sawyer at 1:59 PM on November 16, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
Good luck! I'll be watching this post to see how much actual scholarly effort has been directed towards unraveling this phenomenon.
posted by krippledkonscious at 2:26 PM on November 15, 2006