Mean Drunk, Sad Drunk, Goofy Drunk

[Sir Robin Goodfellow]

Thanks for the responses all. I have only been drunk once, on whisky. It made me sad.

I agree that it's most likely to do with the personality of the drinker more than anything else.


And also, Fiona, of all people, a rowdy drunk?

 

[luchog]

I told him that it was only an anecdote, and I felt that alcohol was alcohol, and your brain didn't care where it came from.

What say you all?

I don't have any studies handy to link to, as I'm relying on my own past reading; but all alcohol is not the same. For starters, every alcoholic beverage is going to come with other substances besides the ethanol: water, sugars, flavouring agents, and various other alcohols. The water content alone can be enough to alter one's behaviour and reaction; as it will regulate the speed of absorption. What food you eat will also have a profound effect, but for this purpose I'm assuming that to be equal for all alcoholic beverages.

The sugar content will definitely affect not only how the alcohol is absorbed, but the sugar will also affect body chemistry and mood.

Flavouring agents can have significant effects, depending on the individual reactions; but for most distilled alcoholic drinks, except in terms of allergies, these will typically be minimal. Liquers and non-distilled drinks may have more of these, and they may have a more profound effect, but the sugar content is likely to be more significant. Vanilloids from aging in wood are the most likely to have some effect, depending on concentration.

Other alcohols are a major factor in the effect of many drinks. In the brewing/distillation industry these are known as "congeners", and typically consist of trace amounts of methanol, fusel alcohols, and acetone. The higher the level of these congeners, the stronger the effect they will have; and can certainly alter the effect of the ethanol, creating "mean" or "happy" or whatever drunks. The percentage of congeners is entirely the result of the substance fermented, and the distillation technique for "hard" liquor; and is due to the amount of pectin and certain other non-simple-sugar fermentables. Grains produce little or no congeners when fermented; while fruits and vegetable substances produce more. Primitive distillation processes, particularly freeze distillation, can concentrate these congeners to potentially toxic levels. Even good distillation process does not necessarily remove all of them, because many have vapour points similar to ethanol.

Pure grain drinks like vodka, Everclear, and whiskey are likely to have a much different effect from fruit or vegetable-based drinks like tequila, grappa, or rum.

 

[Tricky]

I'm the child of two alchoholics. I'm alchoholic myself, if I'm being honest. But I think the differences between the types of alchohol are real but not as important behavior-wise as might be supposed.

What I find is that alchohol brings out the tendencies you already have. As I say, my dad was a drunk. He liked bourbon, but would drink anything. For the most part, he was a loving drunk. He never beat us or Mom or did anything that made us fear for our lives. That's because he was a nice guy. He was a nice guy sober. He was a nice guy drunk. If anything, alchohol make him "too loving", as he tended to screw anything that moved once he got tanked up. He always felt bad about it later, but even sober, he was a guy who liked flirting.

My uncle Peter was not that way. He was sarcastic and nasty when sober, and became hateful and dangerous when drunk, even though he mostly drank beer. He beat his wife and his kids. One of his sons committed suicide. His wife kicked him out and he died in a hovel with a slut who was there because he had a regular retirement check.

But there is some truth that a person who seeks the quickest path to drunkenness is probably more dangerous than a person who seeks a pleasant high. And I think there are other chemicals in various alchohols that modify your characteristics. Tequila and Gin are famous for making peopls "crazy" drunk. But overall, I think it is the person who is drinking that determines what the person who is drunk will be like.

 

[BNRT]

Tricky, I hope you'll forgive me for taking away the personal and (perhaps) emotional stuff in your post and just address this:

[...]there is some truth that a person who seeks the quickest path to drunkenness is probably more dangerous than a person who seeks a pleasant high.

I think this could be one of the things playing in my comparison with champagne and beer. Just to give another personal anecdote, when I'm at my parents, we usually drink good wine or good beer. The tipsiness or drunkenness that I feel from that is totally different than the kind I feel when out in a bar and 'needing to have something (to drink) in my hand.

 

[Tricky]

Tricky, I hope you'll forgive me for taking away the personal and (perhaps) emotional stuff in your post and just address this.

No problem at all, BNRT.

I think this could be one of the things playing in my comparison with champagne and beer. Just to give another personal anecdote, when I'm at my parents, we usually drink good wine or good beer. The tipsiness or drunkenness that I feel from that is totally different than the kind I feel when out in a bar and 'needing to have something (to drink) in my hand.

Indeed. The question is, does the type of alchohol make a difference, or is it the intent in drinking that makes a difference? I think it is more the latter, but I don't totally disregard the former.

I've seen people slam beers or swill wine, and thery're not much different from people doing shots of tequila.

 

[BNRT]

No problem at all, BNRT.

Good.

Indeed. The question is, does the type of alchohol make a difference, or is it the intent in drinking that makes a difference? I think it is more the latter, but I don't totally disregard the former./QUOTE]

I would also agree on the latter of those two options. Although I think the 'intent in drinking' (for me) would usually determine the type of alcohol. Usually along the lines of either cheap and much or expensive and little but tasty.

 

[quarky]

Beer drinking forces one to take lots of pee breaks. These little 'time-outs' allow one to touch down with reality, or at least they force one to abandon the avenue they were on, if only for a moment.

As soon as the beer drunk hits the head, the people he was boring have a nice chance to split, with minimal social awkwardness.

 

[carlitos]

As soon as the beer drunk hits the head, the people he was boring have a nice chance to split, with minimal social awkwardness.

Very astute observation!

 

[Pikachu]

From a prosecuting point of view I can offer the following observations we've made at work (no scientific evidence)
The vast majority of violent crimes follow lager drinking (chances go up with every added bottle of unnatural coloured drink but lager seems to be the catalyst)
Hardly any violent crimes follow drinking bitter etc
The drink most likely to make people act completely out of character is Red Bull and Vodka. More effective than gamma radiation. The only time I recall our local police actually ordering a major nightclub to close was their RB & V promotion night. Every cop in the county had to be called in to deal with the fallout.

 

[Xephyr]

Actually, there is some truth to that.

This is anecdotal but when my father drank whiskey, he became an angry violent drunk. But when he drank beer, he was a happy, joking around drunk. Because of this, he quit drinking whiskey and just stuck to drinking beer.

Whiskey had the same effect on me in my younger years until I became used to it (immune ?)... now I'm just a yappy happy drunk on the stuff.

I've observed other people (those I'm close to and know well) having different types of "drunks" on different types of alcohol too.

So perhaps it actually is a chemical/neural adjustment in the brain ? It would be interesting to see a scientific study on it.



As they say : Rum is the panty-dropper alcohol for women.

 

[quarky]

Drunks that also use coke or meth add a whole new angle. With stimulants, the drunk doesn't pass out when he should.

 

[bookitty]

As an ex-bartender, I've noticed a few things. Certain types of alcohol represent different experiences to some people.

There's the guy that comes into the bar, drinks vodka tonics, behaves normally. Then one night, two friends from college come to town. They all decide that "Tonight, it has to be tequila." And then they all go "Woo!" and proceed to be a pain in the butt until you cut them off and toss them out.

It wasn't the tequila, it was just the usual effects of alcohol. To them however, it was a license to get a little drunker and a little rowdier than usual. If they were drinking shots, they probably had more booze in a shorter amount of time as well.

A guy who is depressed might order drinks that are too strong, or that he doesn't really like the taste of so that he can experience bitter with all his senses.

A girl who wants to be flirty orders a Cosmo and ends up making out with some stranger.

The drinks are just the excuse.

 

[luchog]

The drink most likely to make people act completely out of character is Red Bull and Vodka. More effective than gamma radiation. The only time I recall our local police actually ordering a major nightclub to close was their RB & V promotion night. Every cop in the county had to be called in to deal with the fallout.

This makes a great deal of sense; considering that it combines the inhibition-negating and judgement-impairing effects of alcohol with the aggression-enhancing effects of a potent stimulant. Never a good combination, IMO.

 

[Unlike a Bull]

As an ex-bartender, I've noticed a few things. Certain types of alcohol represent different experiences to some people.

There's the guy that comes into the bar, drinks vodka tonics, behaves normally. Then one night, two friends from college come to town. They all decide that "Tonight, it has to be tequila." And then they all go "Woo!" and proceed to be a pain in the butt until you cut them off and toss them out.

It wasn't the tequila, it was just the usual effects of alcohol. To them however, it was a license to get a little drunker and a little rowdier than usual. If they were drinking shots, they probably had more booze in a shorter amount of time as well.

A guy who is depressed might order drinks that are too strong, or that he doesn't really like the taste of so that he can experience bitter with all his senses.

A girl who wants to be flirty orders a Cosmo and ends up making out with some stranger.

The drinks are just the excuse.

I could not agree with you more. Bookitty.