Forget everything on a night out? How to stop a booze blackout before it happens
Blacking out doesn't necessarily involve passing out. We reveal what happens to your brain when you forget the night before
HAVE you ever ended up so drunk that you don't remember a thing from the night before?
Apart from it being a pretty terrifying experience leaving you consumed with fear the next day, blacking out in a booze-induced stupor can have an alarming effect on the body.
Blackouts are "a gap in the tape" of your memory, said George Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
He told that in a blackout, "alcohol shuts down the ability of the brain to consolidate memories".
But what actually is a blackout?
Well, it doesn't mean that someone becomes unconscious.
As anyone who's humiliated themselves on a night out might know, people tend to continue interacting with other people and engaging in potentially embarrassing or dangerous activities even after their brains have buzzed off.
Of course, you can pass out during a blackout - and that's the most dangerous thing about them, with the possibility of sustaining a head injury from falling, choking on vomit or getting alcohol poisoning.
But if your mate's still compus mentus, then it can be tricky to tell whether they're approaching blackout mode or not.
How to tell that you're near blackout point
There's no definitive guide to blacking out - symptoms can differ from person to person, or session by session.
But common signs that someone's very drunk include poor coordination, vomiting or needing help to get home.
Symptoms of black out
It can be hard to tell when someone's experiencing a blackout as people can continue to go about doing what they were doing beforehand.
However there are some signs to watch out for, including:
- The person is easily distracted.
- They repeat themselves often during conversation.
- The individual continually forgets where they are or what they were doing.
- They are unable to hold the thread of a conversation.
- They appear unconcerned about the thoughts or feelings of those around them.
- They choose to participate in risky behaviours that they may not perform when sober or tipsy.
- The person has consumed a lot of alcohol in a short period of time, or they have been drinking without eating or drinking water.
Source: American Addiction Centres
“Slurred speech is also common, and people are sensitive to that; it’s why police use it as a test,” explained Koob.
“Also, same with motor coordination. They might be bumping into things. It’s hard to walk in a straight line when you’re that intoxicated.”
A change in personality is also a pretty good indicator, Koob said.
"One marker I use is dramatic and rapid swings in emotionality.
“One moment, your friend might be praising you and telling you how much they care. The next, they turn, and it’s the complete opposite emotion, like anger directed at you.”
ONE FOR THE ROAD Are you worried you’re an alcoholic? Take this quiz to find out — and here’s all the warning signs
What can you do to avoid blacking out?
It's an obvious answer but the key is to drink in moderation - both to protect your dignity and your long-term health.
According to Alcohol Concern, excessive drinking is the biggest risk factor for death, ill-health and disability among 15-49 year-olds in the UK - and is the fifth biggest factor among all ages.
To reduce your chances of developing a whole host of potentially fatal diseases, Public Health England is .
So, what's going on in the brain when it gets into a blackout state?
A study from the University of California, San Diego, claimed to have found that around 40 per cent of brains are more prone to blackouts from booze and drugs than others.
Well, it's all to do with ethanol - a compound found in alcohol.
Drinking up to four boozy drinks in a short space of time can heighten its effects - particularly if you've not eaten much.
When the stomach is empty, ethanol reaches the blood as soon as half an hour after consumption.
That means that as you drink, your blood ethanol level inches high and higher for up to 90 minutes - possibly without realising just how drunk you are until you're already pretty far gone.
After a couple of hours on the sauce, that ethanol then diffuses from the blood into the brain.
The booze then targets receptors in the part of the brain which controls emotions and recollection, including something called the gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA.
When GABA receptors are affected by alcohol, the brain stops transmitting signals that would otherwise solidify memories.
It also helps the brain to start producing things like dopamine and serotonin, as well as glutamate - the neurotransmitter that results in your feeling calmer.
That's why you often feel amazing when you're drinking...so you drink more - all the while getting increasingly leathered.
MORE ON HEALTH
But that can also lead to you doing things which are out of character. As your inhibitions go down with that fifth G&T, you start to think that dancing on the table's a good idea, that sexting your boss is totally legit.
And the next day, you can't understand why your boss is looking at you oddly from across the office, or why you're covered in bruises from falling off the table.
It's not just the damage to your ego that's the problem - blacking out means that you're drinking to excess, and that comes with all the usual health issues associated with drinking, including developing liver problems, heart disease and various cancers.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368. You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours