Does a drink make you a different person?

[Goofyluver]

I went out on Friday night with a group of coworkers. I do not drink very often...barely ever. It had been a rough week and I had a part of a drink. But, I know I don't drink enough to even have a limit. I'm too scared of being out of control to get drunk! Anyways, what got me thinking is that I have a specific coworker who had a little bit too much to drink. This is a person who barely every speaks, she is very shy and introverted. She finished up her first one and boy she turned into chatty Kathy! She was telling all kinds of personal things and was totally different from her "office self"! I was just wondering if any of you have experienced similar things? Does alcohol make you a different person or just allow you to be your true self?

 

[SwedishMeatball]

With alcohol, not so much. I just get really silly and sleepy in a hurry. I'm a complete lightweight. I have more fun without it. Now caffeinated drinks make me super jittery, so I try to avoid those. I had a few diet Cokes with dinner the other night, and I was up until the wee hours of the morning.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

It only makes me a bit more.....flirty.....than I usually am.

Other than that, I'm the same as always.

 

[sPaRkLeSpAz]

Heh, well whenever I drink I get really hyper and really talkative, and I'm normally a shy quiet person. I also always say really random things.

 

[singingpixie]

Not a completely different person, but it does loosen me up a bit.

I'm a really shy person sometimes, to the point where talking to people I don't know well often terrifies me. I'm thinking of going to a counsellor because I worry I might have social anxiety disorder.

A drink or two does often help me lose that fear and talk a little easier, so I am a bit different. But I don't make decisions differently or become meaner or nicer- just a bit less self-conscious.

Maybe the difference in your co-worker was a combination of the drink and the fact that she was in a different environment than you're used to seeing her? Lots of people have a more conservative "office personality."

 

[KelNottAt]

Not me (at least I don't think so), but I know someone who becomes very different when she drinks. I hate to say it, but the instant that third drink touches her lips no one can bear to be around her. Until that point she's a good-hearted, beloved member of the family. Then, WHAM!, all of a sudden she's a loud, snobby, know-it-all. With the fouth drink she can't complete a (snobby) sentence and her eyes begin to blink independent of each other. (That last part is actually quite amusing to see.) I really pity her. She has embarrassed herself quite badly more than once. Thank goodness she has a loving SO who can either reel her in or take her home.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I have more fun without it.

Me too. I'm more of "myself" without alcohol. When I drink I just get sleepy and want to go home. Without it I'm wide open.

Some really quiet, shy people really open up when they have a few drinks. I think alcohol does different things to different people. People that are quiet and shy may have anxiety about being around a bunch of people or talking about themselves and alcohol loosens that anxiety. Until the next morning .

 

[budbeerlady]

I LOVE EVERYONE when I drink too much. Seriously, it is a bit irritating for Dh or whatever poor soul is with me. (Good thing I only seem to tie it on 1x a year these days!)
I will hold your arm when walking around, tell you how nice you are. If you are close male friend, I sit on your lap with my arm around you. (Seriously has caused some issues with others who dont know me well, i.e. their girlfriends.) I talk alot and then alot more. Really isnt pretty!

 

[Goofyluver]

My coworker even called later on in the evening to say she regretted some of the things she had said and asked that none of us "repeat anything" we had heard. I just thought it was interesting to sit back and watch this reserved person to turn into a totally different human being!

 

[Aidensmom]

I don't become a different person, but I do get more chatty.

 

[Sherri]

I went out on Friday night with a group of coworkers. I do not drink very often...barely ever. It had been a rough week and I had a part of a drink. But, I know I don't drink enough to even have a limit. I'm too scared of being out of control to get drunk! Anyways, what got me thinking is that I have a specific coworker who had a little bit too much to drink. This is a person who barely every speaks, she is very shy and introverted. She finished up her first one and boy she turned into chatty Kathy! She was telling all kinds of personal things and was totally different from her "office self"! I was just wondering if any of you have experienced similar things? Does alcohol make you a different person or just allow you to be your true self?

Yea- and I say things I really shouldn't. I guess because I don't drink so much these days, it seems to hit me the hardest.

 

[Bob Slydell]

One drink? No change.

A couple drinks? Yeah, a little different.

A lotta drinks? All bets are off

 

[Hercules10]

I become bullet proof and hornier.

 

[Serena]

I rarely drink so it doesn't take much. But when I do I either get silly or sleepy.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I become bullet proof and hornier.

What a combination! I bet that makes for some interesting nights.

 

[Mady/Sophiemom]

I don't become a different person, but I do get more chatty.

Same here, A bit more chatty, and prob. more laid back.

DH, is the life of the party, without alcohol, totallly opposite with. Sleepy, and boring.

 

[rockbottomsound]

No I don't change but my DW does, she goes from a 7 to a 10 with only about 3 stiff drinks.

But seriously, I do pride myself in not changing at all no matter how intoxicated I may get. Most people tell me that they never even know when I've been drinking.

My friends on the other hand are a total different story. One becomes 10 feet tall and begins to proclaim that he can throw a football 75 yards, benchpress 300 lbs and dunk a basket ball. We actually called him out on these one time just to dis-prove them all, but even dis-proving them all to this day doesn't prevent him from saying the same BS! He'll still talk about throwing a football 75 yards, benchpressing 300lbs etc.,

 

[pogo791]

. . . what got me thinking is that I have a specific coworker who had a little bit too much to drink. This is a person who barely every speaks, she is very shy and introverted. She finished up her first one and boy she turned into chatty Kathy! She was telling all kinds of personal things and was totally different from her "office self"! . . .

Sounds to me like your coworker uses alcohol and the change of environment as a subconscious excuse to change her behavior. She may also have been under a lot of pressure. Otherwise, it's difficult to understand how a person can change from an introvert to an extrovert after only one drink.

For me and, as far as I can tell, my friends, one or two drinks alone won't make that much difference. It's simply that when we do get together (and, incidentally, drink), we are able to relax more, and talk about things other than work. Basically, we become more "ourselves" that the stiff, nose-to-the-grindstone drones we are between nine and five.

Hey, that reminds me, Budbeerlady, where do you party?

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

i don't turn into a different person. i just get kinda ditzy when i drink. i usually limit myself anyway. i don't like feeling drunk.

my fiancee turns into a different person tho. usually it only happens when we're around his friends, he'll turn into a jerk......and that's when i usually have to tell him he's cut off and he'll snap back to reality and realize what he's doing.

 

[JoyG]

With the fouth drink she can't complete a (snobby) sentence and her eyes begin to blink independent of each other. (That last part is actually quite amusing to see.)

Well I've had my laugh for the day. That's hysterical.