Types of Drunk People

7 Types of Drunks

Who are you when you are drunk? Most of us have some idea of how we will behave when we are on a night out or start drinking at home.

Some people will be a little more outgoing, more relaxed or experience a complete personality change when drunk.

Your drunk personality may be unique to you, but there are some patterns we recognize in how people who are drunk behave.

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How Alcohol Changes Your Personality

1. Happy Drunks

This is the reason so many people drink. It makes you feel good – at the beginning, anyways. The first few drinks work on our brain’s reward centres, and we feel relaxed, euphoric and even excited.

This can last well past the first drink for some people. If it is an occasional thing, this isn’t an issue. In fact, it is probably a good sign.

It is a different story if someone is happy because they normally struggle with mental health issues like anxiety or depression.

Self-medicating with alcohol is common. The problem is that happiness fades, whether when you get very drunk or the next day.

Frequently using alcohol to deal with anxiety or depression worsens these conditions. Your brain becomes dependent on alcohol, and you need more and more to have any effect.

2. Sad Drunk

The tricky thing about alcohol is that it releases dopamine, making you feel happier and more relaxed. However, this is temporary.

After too much alcohol, short and long-term, your brain rewires itself. It learns you don’t need normal dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine levels because you have alcohol instead.

These chemicals and parts of your brain make you feel good. Once these reduce their output, you will feel more depressed and anxious.

This can lead to people who are sad whenever they drink. It gets particularly bad after the second or third drink.

Long-term drinkers will find that they feel particularly sad or down when they try to stop drinking. This is a sign of alcohol withdrawal. Your body has become used to having alcohol in the system and now can’t function without it.

3. Carefree Drunk

We all know someone who has a few too many and wants to scale the building or declare their undying love to their boss’s wife. Like some other types of drunks, this is more than underlying psychology.

There is evidence that it is a genetic predisposition. A gene that interferes with serotonin in the brain seems to cause people to be impulsive or not, especially when drunk.

The suggestion is that people with this genetic issue should abstain from drinking as it is a significant risk to their health and safety.

There are other reasons for recklessness when drunk. Rising levels of norepinephrine can make anyone excited and therefore reduce their inhibitions.

4. Angry Drunk

The image of a drunken brawl outside a pub is fairly common. But why are some people angry and aggressive and others not?

Again, the answer lies in lowered inhibitions, increased emotions and genetics. The same gene that impacts impulsive drunks is also to blame for aggressive people.

Of course, living or being brought up in an aggressive social group is a big factor too.

Scientists suggest that some people are just hard-wired to get angry and aggressive when they drink too much. Again, how our brain controls serotonin levels is the main factor.

5. Sleepy Drunk

Alcohol is, interestingly, both a stimulant and sedative. The sedative part is because it depresses your CNS (Central Nervous System). This can make you feel drowsy and tired.

This is time-sensitive. You are more stimulated for the first hour; then you get more tired. If you stop drinking, the effect of sleepiness peaks about 2 hours after the drink.

Tiredness naturally affects your sleep. The type of drink makes a difference too. Someone who drinks high sugar and caffeine alcoholic drinks (think rum and coke) will be more stimulated than, say, a red wine drinker.

Although sleepiness is increased by alcohol quality of rest is reduced. Drinking before bed decreases the amount of REM sleep.

This kind of sleep makes us feel restored in the morning. Drinking too often can leave you feeling lethargic, sleep-deprived and wondering why you are tired after a solid 8 hours a night.

6. Memory Loss Drinker

Your awake, but how did you fall asleep on the sofa? How did you get home? What happened last night? This kind of drunk person will be blowing up your phone the next day.

If you are searching your phone for drunk dials and panicking about what you might have done, this is you.

This is one of the scarier types of reaction to alcohol. Given how our decision-making is affected by drinking, you may find there are troubling consequences the next day.

Although passing out or memory loss is common, it is often a sign you need to cut down on drinking. It can be very distressing and has an impact on your brain.

7. Jekyll and Hyde

People I know from work would recognize me when I am out. This is not unusual in itself. Many people are straight-laced in one part of life but have a wild side.

The only issue is if your drunk side causes you social, personal or financial problems.

Beware also that drinking over a long period can actually cause real and meaningful changes to your personality.

Because of how it affects our brain’s reward centre, which can be altered by drinking too much, your brain is very much who you are.

Changing what makes you happy, relaxed and social is a big deal. These changes are usually reversible if you stop drinking or seriously cut down.

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Sources

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3593065/ ALCOHOL AND THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX

https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2012/10/16/what-alcohol-really-does-to-your-brain/?sh=54955499664e

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21560041/ Stimulant and sedative effects of alcohol

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Time-course-of-Stimulation-and-Sedation-Scores-as-measured-by-the-Biphasic-Alcohol_fig1_51115088