Alcohol ...ism ?
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
The majority of us indulge, it happens that drink is a highly accepted vice. It has been my findings however that it may be closer in many ways to a psychoactive intoxicant, than at least I had previously supposed.
It starts with a belief in the romantic aspects of the classic drunk, (Tortured alcoholic celtic poet etc). The occasional hedonistic notion that "hey I'm young, can I not do this forever?". Next comes the tired old ritual of habit, especially when there's nothing else to do for recreation, socially, in the environ from which you originate. Most of your friends have the same drinking routine, so you end up going to the pub to meet them because you know you'll see someone you know there. And although none of them would deny the fact that they are alcoholics, none of them sees any real problem with that.
If on one of these occasions you miss somebody's company you just have to come back the next day or that evening or whenever. Henceforth, it is not unheard of for this type of behaviour to extend from Thursday to Tuesday. A proper binge by any other name is not as sweet.
In the beginning it took me 4 weeks of such disregard for my liver to end up in a state where it was beginning to be difficult to be entirely sober when not drinking. My motor needed some pre-MOT work and I had no reason to not drink since I wasn't requires to drive. This lead to a slight distortion in my perception of the passage of time "What's this song ? It's been on for fu**ing hours!" Barely noticeable motion at the fringes of my visual range, "was that someone at the window just now ?" and a crawling, prickling sensation all over the short surface hair on my body (you can see why people often complain of spiders.
The next time it took 7 days and the effects were slightly more exaggerated attempting to sleep becomes difficult because your body wakes as soon as the alcohol has started to leave your system. Drink is a depressant, you see, and although the one night here and there is okay, if you constantly expose your nervous system to it, being the adaptable species we are, our brains boost up the signal from our sensory receptors (chemicals and all that) * . This can be a severe strain on the body so it probably does shorten your life somewhat (you may find your pulse rampaging through you when you're sitting perfectly still). But hey Doctors do it so it's maybe alright.....Where was I.....Now then, you're either asleep or drunk or sobering up or drinking so this chemical imbalance within your body/brain has you buzzing all the time, it's may be an endorphin or something, I don't know, but it is like a natural amphetamine that helps you 'perk up' enough to get home safely (after all the only priority we were built for is the survival of the gene pool/testes/ovum/Gene Pitney #) in the increasingly drunken state in which you seem to find yourself all the time. Or maybe you got home on your beer scooter.
The drink tends to effect you less and you wonder why your mates get drunk faster than you, by all accounts though this period only lasts as long as your constitution and it one eighties on you after your bodies burned out and you get steamin' on two pints. In either case when you wake, your senses are very hyped. Indeed the only thing that will get them to stop screaming at you, in the hear and now, is more drink.
Time, as I have already stated, seems to slow right down. This is because you see and hear and feel so much more than you had previously noticed. It's not just restricted to the external senses however as your thinking process goes off at previously unexplored tangents to the norm. This coupled with the lack of sleep can lead you to the point where you nearly phone the local sanatorium, you do just need sleep and no boozes (probably, I mean, I don't know you). You'll know when the time is right to give it a rest because you won't be able to ....can anyone see that pigeon over there...um... concentrate on any one thing for more time than it takes you to notice that something else needs done.
"I'll just put on a load of washing.... Oh, the dishes need doing.... the CD/channel/baby needs changing.... I think it's about time to sweep the floor..... un-answered messages on the machine by the phone.....etc"
It'll drive you to distraction if you weren't distracted enough already.
You may not be able to remember the question but drink is not the answer. If you should attempt to constantly solve the problem with booze then the effects of the constant reliance will be all that more extreme when it comes time to pay the ferryman. I know people, old people who have made a lifetime of such borderline activity, who get the psychological effects and also heavy visual hallucinations when not drinking. (Pray for sanity ) Something, if the descriptions are to be believed, along the lines of the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz.
I thank my lucky stars that I was able to detect these symptoms. Not that I do a lot about it but it's a highly entertaining change in your perception, after all a change is as good as a rest. Sorry, by the way, if this seems a little disjointed in the direction it was going, but this is something I feel more people should know before they undertake such reckless socialising.
But a word to the unrepentant, "It does get easier to handle, given enough time."
#Delete where applicable
* (incidentally if you actively quest after such experience and you can handle drinking whisky without getting into fights all the time then try some of the excellent Malt Whiskies that Scotland has to offer. My latest tipple is Old Pultney from a distillery near Wick, 10 out of 10 and very palatable. Trust me whisky takes fu**ing donkeys to get out of your veins, and the more exclusive the brew the milder the hangover. You do stay drunk for ages but it is value for money)
It starts with a belief in the romantic aspects of the classic drunk, (Tortured alcoholic celtic poet etc). The occasional hedonistic notion that "hey I'm young, can I not do this forever?". Next comes the tired old ritual of habit, especially when there's nothing else to do for recreation, socially, in the environ from which you originate. Most of your friends have the same drinking routine, so you end up going to the pub to meet them because you know you'll see someone you know there. And although none of them would deny the fact that they are alcoholics, none of them sees any real problem with that.
If on one of these occasions you miss somebody's company you just have to come back the next day or that evening or whenever. Henceforth, it is not unheard of for this type of behaviour to extend from Thursday to Tuesday. A proper binge by any other name is not as sweet.
In the beginning it took me 4 weeks of such disregard for my liver to end up in a state where it was beginning to be difficult to be entirely sober when not drinking. My motor needed some pre-MOT work and I had no reason to not drink since I wasn't requires to drive. This lead to a slight distortion in my perception of the passage of time "What's this song ? It's been on for fu**ing hours!" Barely noticeable motion at the fringes of my visual range, "was that someone at the window just now ?" and a crawling, prickling sensation all over the short surface hair on my body (you can see why people often complain of spiders.
The next time it took 7 days and the effects were slightly more exaggerated attempting to sleep becomes difficult because your body wakes as soon as the alcohol has started to leave your system. Drink is a depressant, you see, and although the one night here and there is okay, if you constantly expose your nervous system to it, being the adaptable species we are, our brains boost up the signal from our sensory receptors (chemicals and all that) * . This can be a severe strain on the body so it probably does shorten your life somewhat (you may find your pulse rampaging through you when you're sitting perfectly still). But hey Doctors do it so it's maybe alright.....Where was I.....Now then, you're either asleep or drunk or sobering up or drinking so this chemical imbalance within your body/brain has you buzzing all the time, it's may be an endorphin or something, I don't know, but it is like a natural amphetamine that helps you 'perk up' enough to get home safely (after all the only priority we were built for is the survival of the gene pool/testes/ovum/Gene Pitney #) in the increasingly drunken state in which you seem to find yourself all the time. Or maybe you got home on your beer scooter.
The drink tends to effect you less and you wonder why your mates get drunk faster than you, by all accounts though this period only lasts as long as your constitution and it one eighties on you after your bodies burned out and you get steamin' on two pints. In either case when you wake, your senses are very hyped. Indeed the only thing that will get them to stop screaming at you, in the hear and now, is more drink.
Time, as I have already stated, seems to slow right down. This is because you see and hear and feel so much more than you had previously noticed. It's not just restricted to the external senses however as your thinking process goes off at previously unexplored tangents to the norm. This coupled with the lack of sleep can lead you to the point where you nearly phone the local sanatorium, you do just need sleep and no boozes (probably, I mean, I don't know you). You'll know when the time is right to give it a rest because you won't be able to ....can anyone see that pigeon over there...um... concentrate on any one thing for more time than it takes you to notice that something else needs done.
"I'll just put on a load of washing.... Oh, the dishes need doing.... the CD/channel/baby needs changing.... I think it's about time to sweep the floor..... un-answered messages on the machine by the phone.....etc"
It'll drive you to distraction if you weren't distracted enough already.
You may not be able to remember the question but drink is not the answer. If you should attempt to constantly solve the problem with booze then the effects of the constant reliance will be all that more extreme when it comes time to pay the ferryman. I know people, old people who have made a lifetime of such borderline activity, who get the psychological effects and also heavy visual hallucinations when not drinking. (Pray for sanity ) Something, if the descriptions are to be believed, along the lines of the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz.
I thank my lucky stars that I was able to detect these symptoms. Not that I do a lot about it but it's a highly entertaining change in your perception, after all a change is as good as a rest. Sorry, by the way, if this seems a little disjointed in the direction it was going, but this is something I feel more people should know before they undertake such reckless socialising.
But a word to the unrepentant, "It does get easier to handle, given enough time."
#Delete where applicable
* (incidentally if you actively quest after such experience and you can handle drinking whisky without getting into fights all the time then try some of the excellent Malt Whiskies that Scotland has to offer. My latest tipple is Old Pultney from a distillery near Wick, 10 out of 10 and very palatable. Trust me whisky takes fu**ing donkeys to get out of your veins, and the more exclusive the brew the milder the hangover. You do stay drunk for ages but it is value for money)
