Sunday, July 13, 2014

Alcohol Use

After reading through the slides on "Impulsivity & Self Control" and "Drugs" I have been thinking a lot about alcohol consumption and why people get drunk. Everyone knows we do stupid things when we are drunk, text our exes, get into fights and make out with strangers. We wake up with unexplained bruises and have a massive headache and some of us will throw up all day long. However every weekend most of us end up drinking again. We may only say "I am going to have one drink and call it a night" but after that one drink what winds up happening? "I'll just have one more" and then the next morning we are waking up on the bathroom floor with no recollection of what happened. So why does this happen? According to the lecture on impulsivity and self control I believe that this is a pattern on "positive addictions" substituting for "negative addictions". We say we will only have one drink because we know the negative side effects of drinking too much: the hangover. But once we have one drink the euphoria that alcohol gives us starts to set in and we do not want it to go away. We only begin to think of the positive side of alcohol, the feeling of euphoria. So before we know it we are drinking more than we can handle. When the feeling of euphoria sets in we are only thinking about immediate gratification, we want to feel pleasure now. We are not thinking of the delayed gratification of not having a hangover the next day. I think this is a very simple explanation to why people get drunk. (This post is not to imply that everyone gets drunk, and this post is not to attempt to explain alcoholism). Please comment with your thoughts and comments!



Berg, M (2014). Impulsivity & Self Control #1. Retrieved from:      https://sites.google.com/site/markrscnj/Home/motivation/motivation-lectures

Berg, M (2014). Drugs. Retrieved from:  https://sites.google.com/site/markrscnj/Home/motivation/motivation-lectures

4 comments:

  1. That is the problem with all intoxicating substances; you know they will have a bad effect on you later, but at first it's fun. I tend to get really bad hangovers, so when I go out I vow to only have a couple drinks. When I was younger, I would keep drinking instead of worrying about the next day. Now that I have more responsibilities, I am better able to recognize when I've had enough because I don't want to spend the next day being sick. Instant vs. delayed gratification is something we all have to deal with in various aspects of life.

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  2. This is an on going problem with people that suffer with alcoholism or drug abuse. I believe they might really want to control their addiction but can't help themselves. People with no control think they can have one drink and not go for another. In most cases people with addictions have no self control and end up completely drunk. You made a lot of great points and showed how most people are with a lot of different situations. By the way the picture made me laugh, its all fun and games until the next day when it hits you hard.

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  3. Euphoria is definitely what causes the feeling to drink more along with the way alcohol can impair your judgment. Most people they say are impaired from their first drink. From that point on and the good feelings that follow your brain will always say "more".

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