Why does closing your eyes when your drunk make everything much worse?
In: Biology
alcohol affects how your inner ear deals with balance, if you have your eyes open then this effect is lessened because your brain uses visual signals alongside your inner ear to determine where “up” is
if you close your eyes your brain can only use the inner ear, which is messed up by the alcohol.
quick tip to defeat the spins: lie on your bed on your back, with one foot on the floor
As mentioned, alcohol will thin the blood and change the density of the fluid in your inner ear. Now this fluid moves around *too much* and causes the dizziness sensation.
The cerebellum is also highly involved in balance and cause dizziness if dysfunctional. Having your eyes open can help your brain and cerebellum use visual information to balance your body. When your eyes are closed, this supplementary information is lost and now your sense of balance is mostly relying on the inner ear. And since your inner ear isn’t working properly, you feel dizzy.
Simply put, your brain uses all kinds of information to know which way is up. When your eyes are open, you can clearly see the ground, the ceiling, the sky, etc and that helps your brain understand where it’s standing even when you’re drunk.
With your eyes closed, your brain is purely going off your sense of balance to know which way is up. Alcohol tends to mess with that a lot quicker than your sight so if that’s all it has to get information from, your brain has no idea what gravity is anymore and starts spinning.
(this doesn’t work as well when you’re so drunk the room is spinning though, then everything is awful!)
Your body uses your eyes, nerves (pressure sensation), and 3 semi-circular canals (filled with fluid and tiny hair-like structures that move when you do) in your skull to balance.
When you’re drunk you’re poisoning yourself and messing with lots of systems.
Obviously the semi-circular canals (vestibular system) are effected, so by closing your eyes you loose another sensory input and things get more spiny.
I don’t have the scientific answer like all these other commenters but part of it is also psychological. When you realized that the altering affects of alcohol are something that you cannot escape. Mixed with the physical disorientation you can feel trapped in your own body.
Not to be the teatoller here but maybe just don’t get drunk? A few drinks and getting tipsy does the same thing for loosening up and confidence and such. No need to go stupid.
Then you won’t have to worry about the spins or doing seriously stupid stuff or bad things happening to you cus you were inebriated 🙂
For a LPT here…
If you are lying down in your bed and have the spins,l slide one foot onto the ground, and hold onto a dresser or table next to you…
Somehow the situation gets instantly more bareable…
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