What I mean by that is I’ve heard countless stories of people who say that when they are drunk, and something happens to, let’s say, a friend, and they can’t take care of themselves, they can “sober up” and handle the situation, even though they’re also just as drunk most of the time. Obviously, that’s not how alcohol works in the body, so what is really happening when someone can go from being in a drunken state to a sober, alert state almost like a flipping a switch?
In: Biology
Likely, they are pretending. You don’t magically undo the alcohol in your blood.
More likely, people are loose and having fun, so they seem sloppy, and then the situation changes and they get serious and they *think* they are focusing and composed… but their mental and motor functions are still just as compromised.
Another factor could be adrenaline, or drugs. Like how some people do blow and think that snaps them out of being drunk. Nope, now they are just drunk and high. Adrenaline can be a drug too, and can get you moving when needed, like if you are attacked while partying.
The important thing to remember is all of the above is NOT an excuse to do something stupid like drink and drive. There is no light switch, you are just drunk and making drunk decisions and pretending you flipped a switch and are now “better” but you aren’t, it takes time to filter out the alcohol.
Now for your example, the answer is simple. Caring for a friend can be done while you are drunk. So if your friend gets hurt, that’s a serious situation so you help them… while you are drunk. You aren’t able to drive them safely, you can’t safely stitch a wound necessarily, but you can still grab them water and carry them and do some other things. Drunk people can still do some stuff, they just have to also know not to test those limits behind the wheel or in other seriously risky moves
Mood affects some ways that intoxication are expressed in the body. Some people are ‘happy’ drunks, some want to fight, some get sad, etc. Your mood can be embellished by your actions, IE., music, fun things, romance, etc. Depending on the circumstances, your heart rate and endorphins and adrenaline levels can go up and down, like if you’re in a fight or run a mile or so-on. These are suppressed with alcohol intoxication, but still are operated independently inside the body.
Your mood can get serious, even intoxicated. And as it does, the expressions can fade as well. These are just some byproducts, and shouldn’t be mistaken for the entire effect of alcohol. The suppression of the decision-making and inhibition portions of your brain are non-negotiable. You cannot feel every effect of alcohol on you, and you cannot will it away.
Alcohol is a depressant (it slows down our ability to think and react)
Adrenaline is a stimulant (it increases are ability to think and react)
When something causes a panic reaction in people our bodies flood our systems with Adrenaline.
This was a survival mechanic that made us better at fighting off or running away from threats.
The Adrenaline produced by the panic lessens the effect of the alcohol enough that they can function until it wears off.
Alcohol in a inhibition suppressant and has a mild effect on the parasympathetic nervous system.
If you get a hit of adrenaline that can temporarily counteract some of the effects of the alcohol in your system, so that can have a sobering effect on people as well.
Alcohol is a chemical that slows down some parts of the brain. If a situation calling us to action occurs, our bodies release chemicals to speed the brain up. The alcohol is then competing with more of other chemicals, so its effects are reduced.
Adrenaline overpowering everything else…..if you get pulled over, you’re still not “sobered up”……more like “jacked up”. Soon as it wears off the alcohol or whatever may kick in again
Alcohol is a depressant, it slows you down.
Adrenaline is a stimulant, it speeds you up. (So is caffeine, which is why you hear about coffee sobering people up)
The stimulant negates some of the effects of the alcohol. You are still drunk, and you still should not be trusted with serious decisions when someone sober can make the decisions.
Also, as soon as the adrenaline wears off, you go right to being just as drunk as before.
The movie cliche is that people “sober up” by drinking a whole lot of coffee. The coffee doesn’t make you sober, it just makes you a wide-awake drunk person with poor judgement and crappy reflexes.
Adrenaline plays a small part, but there’s a massive release of dopamine and norepinepherine (particularly in the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain responsible for decision making and impulse control) when you realize shit just got real. Those chemicals are excitatory and are more important than the adrenaline for “sobering up” mentally. This is why when you drink alcohol while taking ADHD stimulants Adderall or Ritalin, you feel a lot less drunk than you are, as they increase the amounts of those two chemicals specifically in the prefrontal cortex.
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