These drinkers may be using alcohol to cope with other problems in their life, particularly those related to anxiety and depression. Coping drinkers are more likely to be female, drink more heavily and experience more alcohol-related problems than those who drink for other reasons. Although being drunk can feel fun to begin with, it is a sign that alcohol has temporarily changed how the brain functions. Continuing to drink when already feeling drunk can increase a person’s risk of complications.
Interesting things can happen the first time you smoke weed, and I credit that to the fact that you have no idea what to expect (this article might help with that). One important, but often overlooked, aspect of alcohol’s effect on social functioning relates to how we perceive members of our in and out-groups. Alcohol appears to encourage us to bond to members of our in-groups. However, this may come at the cost of the way we treat people outside of these groups. Similarly, alcohol makes members of our ethnic in-group appear more attractive but this effect does not extend to members of other ethnic groups. One great thing about the increasing awareness of alcoholism is that more and more young people are getting sober before they lose everything, before they have irrevocable consequences.
Some sort of space is created between you and your mind and body, giving you the sense that you have become something else. Users report feeling relaxed and happy after using this strain, but don’t often report feeling very sleepy. Now let’s compare that to the Afghan strain, which is also a pure indica. Users also report feeling relaxed, but much more sleepy compared to when smoking Northern Lights. You never really know which side you’re going to tinker on.
The almost immediate sedative effects of a drink can bring relief from intense anxiety, though like the strategy of avoidance, this only works for a short time, followed by a return of possibly stronger worry. It can provide similar relief to help us fall asleep but tends to interfere with deep, restorative sleep, leaving us feeling groggy the next day. This is probably because people are using alcohol to deal with underlying problems rather than seeking out more effective long-term solutions for managing their challenges. By drinking to cope, you’re avoiding dealing with the underlying problem(s), and your alcohol use can actually i like being drunk make them worse—for example, by interfering with relationships with family and friends. Individuals who experience trauma, or who are more prone to depression or anxiety, are more likely to report drinking to cope. It’s easy to see alcohol consumption being a result of thousands of years of ritual and a lifetime of habit.
Taylor Swift’s songs are a masterclass in storytelling, and her references to alcohol are no exception. Champagne flutes, spilled wine, and drunken moments appear throughout her lyrics, often as symbols of celebration or sorrow. In her music, alcohol becomes more than just a drink—it represents memory, emotional weight, and sometimes a fragile escape. Early on in a drinking session, the alcohol acts on GABA systems to boost the levels of dopamine, the brain’s reward chemical. This gives a sense of well-being and a sense of mild euphoria.
Often, people in a drunk state of mind experience desensitisation or a Twelve-step program general loss of the senses. On the other hand, people who are high report feeling highly sensitive. What’s interesting is that some of these symptoms are the reasons that stoners love marijuana, while the very same effects are the reason some people choose never to smoke again. The very sensations that are linked with feeling calm and relaxed can be the same sensations that are linked with anxiety and paranoia after smoking weed.
Blood alcohol content (BAC) is the unit used to measure the amount of alcohol in a person’s bloodstream. So, the best way to know what it feels like to be high on cannabis is to give it a go. Rest assured, you cannot die, even if your mind would be trying to convince you otherwise.
Alcohol also acts on GABA receptors to impair the activity of the brain circuits that make us feel anxious and, at higher doses, alcohol inactivates a second set of brain circuits that control fear. Alcohol also compromises our ability to compute risk so that situations we would normally shy away from may now seem quite inviting. Narrowing from a societal view to an individual one, my clinical experience suggests the triggers for drinking are varied. Negative emotions are certainly on this list, such as feeling nervous attending a social event, particularly after the mandated social withdrawal of the pandemic. Also, sadness, anger, frustration, and even boredom can turn our attention to a cocktail.
Another bad sign is if you repeatedly fail at attempts to moderate. “If you believe alcohol gives you ‘liquid courage’ or that drinking helps you fit in or be more social, you’re likely to drink more,” says the study’s lead author, Lori A.J. Scott-Sheldon. All other factors—such as genetics, personality or environment—are just shaping our drinking motives, according to this model. That is, they’re the gateway through which all these other influences are channelled. Now let’s take a closer look at the reasons people drink. As we have seen during the pandemic, alcohol is an often-utilized coping mechanism to help us manage these difficult emotions.