Is the drunk you the "real" you?

johnnyk29

I seen this being mentioned on YouTube and on other forums that your true personality comes out when you drink?

I stopped for years and then only had a drink on special occasions as I was afraid of having an episode when I drank so much I would do or say stupid things which I lost friends over...

Is this really who I am and is drink removing a mask that unleashes these feelings I have inside that I would never say or do when sober....

pretty boy floyd

No, the drunk you being the real you is a myth. People who are drunk are certainly more likely to be disinhibited, but also more likely to be thinking illogically and acting stupidly.

igCorcaigh

I'd like the think that drunk me is me, just drunk. But you would have to ask others around me for that answer, certainly not me.

I do know people (some very close to me) whose personality traits can drastically change after alcohol, always for the worse.

I'm having a few beers right now, but am forced now to seriously confront my drinking habits, mostly for physical health reasons.

I'll never refrain totally from alcohol, probably, but I hope that I will be more active in this group. 🤞

Fitzy149

Definite yes. In vino veritas.

Is youre a laid back smiley drunk, you don't generally worry about your actions at shindig last night.

If youre a "having issues" drunk (anger, despair, deep seated super-glued-in issues, most like you'll have issues when you sign over control to Lady Alcohol

Chinese : a man takes a drink,

a drink takes a drink,

the drink takes the man.

If you know the state alcohol sets you up for, and its you taking the drink .. then its You all the way .. you are the drunk

Its an ugly drug anyway .. as drugs go

Big Bag of Chips

My husband said and did some very nasty things with drink. I was never a big drinker but obviously have had my share of nights where I drank too much and was drunk. I never turned mean or nasty though.

In my husband's case he has deep rooted psychological issues stemming from his background and his upbringing and the drink brought these out in a nasty way. I'm still not sure if that is the "real" him or not. But it certainly brought out a lot of the insecurities and attitudes that he probably kept suppressed when not drinking.

Donald Trump

If a drunk you is the real you, what about a "coked up" you or a "strung out on junk" you?

Dtp1979

inhibitions are lowered so chances are you’ll blurt out something that you normally wouldn’t. But I don’t think it’s accurate to say it reveals a persons true personality

Fitzy149

Possibly true .. because what is true "self / personality" .. how do you define it ..

If, like the poster above though, whose husband turns "nasty" when drinking - since he knows how his behaviour changes under the drink (ie. for the worse), and has made a conscious, sober judgement to still get drunk despite the outcomes, then it can be argued that it is part of his "true self" .. ie he is OK with this behaviour.

If his "true self" disapproved of his drunk behaviour, then surely he will change it for the better ie. stop or limit his drinking

I will not get off a murder charge in court by excusing my behaviour on drink

" .. but your Honour, i wasn't myself at the time .."

HazeDoll

I have a very occasional drink, maybe two or three a year, and I've been like that for over twenty years. I used to love a drink, loved a big night out, loved getting cheerfully hammered. Nothing terrible ever happened to me as a result of drinking, I just stopped enjoying it. Nearly everybody who knows me thinks of me now as a non-drinker.

Like a lot of non-drinkers I can't stand being around drunk people. People I like and respect become ridiculous and tedious and I find it desperately uncomfortable. I have noticed something else too. It all strikes me as tragically insincere. The loud laughing looks forced, the boozy affection looks sleazy or sad. Some feel they have to 'make it count' on a night out by being outrageous or hilariously spontaneous. Some try to heighten the drama by looking for an argument or having a bit of a cry.

I always think it looks like a crowd of people all trying to tell the same lie.

Selfishly, I don't give much thought to the people who get quiet and morose when they are drunk as they don't tend to bother others.

It's definitely the case that sometimes the truth is sometimes blurted out under the influence, or that somebody might have the courage to make a move on the person they have secretly fancied for a while, but broadly speaking I think people adopt a drunken persona and their sober self is their real self.

(I don't want this to seem like I'm excusing drunken behaviour. If you get drunk and assault somebody you're a scumbag, obviously.)

Fitzy149

Yes, i see what you mean

(Im talking about habitual drinkers here as opposed to someone who has a drop too much at an office party and hardly drinks the rest of the year).

I guess its a matter of opinion. There are no hard and fast answers / definitions .. but some manage to drink and remain their cheerful selves ie cheerful sober, cheerful drunk, as you say you have done.

Others very much not so. They cannot manage to get merry / drunk without some attendant drama.

If a person has a Jekyll/Hyde persona, then that will most likely reveal itself after a few / several drinks .. people often say "drink doesn't suit him / her" ie.. they change from being genteel, humble folk to total assholes.

I've been around an amount of drinking folk in my life and, without exception, if a person is carrying some trauma, secret - then that will come to the fore when drinking.

It is debatable of course, but that inner self is closer to one's true self imo than the self one presents in the daily round - when one's guard is up.

We "prepare a face to meet the faces that we meet .." but with drink on board, sober inhibitions are lifted and one is more likely to "be themselves"

CorneliusBrown

depends what you mean. Is enjoying yourself dancing at a club or revealing your inner secrets to a friend ‘your real self’? Most likely.

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058334091/is-the-drunk-you-the-real-you

No

Pauliedragon

There's a chemical called norepinephrine that's naturally produced in the brain. Alcohol makes us produce too much and the stuff makes us impulsive.

Fitzy149

In my secret life

https://youtu.be/vpXupAdwX2M?si=IAaCFFyRIwPOdVpV

I daren't get drunk and spill the beans on my legit self ..

Akrasia

Drinking alters your personality. That's why people do it. It relaxes you and reduces inhibitions. It doesn't reveal your true self, but it can make you say things that your would never say when sober, because the sober you would stop yourself.

Is the first thing that comes into your head your true feelings, or is the carefully considered, contemplated thought your true belief?

Probably a mixture of the two as emotions and intellectual beliefs often share a fractured relationship with each other

Beechwoodspark

just on this, I would say “no” - my real self is my sober “clean” self.

Alcohol - if you drink enough of it turns anyone into a complete eejit - usually loud, laughing at stupid things, over sharing information, very impulsive and can get angry/overly emotional/confused/sick/fall asleep.

That just isn’t what I am really like when sober at 3pm in the day let’s say.

Yes admittedly in controlled amounts it relaxes you to a certain extent and it feels like a buzz. But it’s not my “real” self.

You are the totality of all your parts. Drink switchs off many of your higher functions and allows emotions to dominate. At best a drunk you is an unbalanced version.of yourself. Restraint and tact are learned but lost when drunk and are as much a part of you as your raw emotions, so to take them away is to leave a shell of your true self.

Fortunately I am an easy going drunk, but I don't for one moment think I am at my best when drunk and I have often done things drunk I later regret and do not think are a fair reflection of who I am.

You are not your drunk self, you are a shadow of yourself.