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Toby Talbot / AP
So good. But the consequences can be so, so bad. New research hints at why we can be enticed to overindulge -- again and again.
As you clutch the commode, pressing your sweaty brow against that awesomely cool porcelain, you pause from your very proud moment -- and take a solemn vow.
Just two words. A simple affirmation, long uttered on ugly mornings after by rookie drinkers and veteran partiers alike -- as comedian Larry Miller so astutely detailed.
“Never … again.”
Ha! A few months, a few weeks -- maybe a few hours -- later, there you stand (sort of): cold one in hand, empties stacked, evil smirk, bleary eyes, and an unfortunate path of carnage in your wobbly wake.
Why do people abandon their sincere, gut-swirling pledges to not ever, ever, ever repeat their body-shot/beer-bong benders? You know, those magical evenings that tend to include a marriage proposal to “Destiny” on Stage 3. How can some folks recover from such self-induced misery only to chase the siren call of a certain syrupy spirit despite all they lost during their last dance with Jägermeister: a wallet, a tooth, their pants and pretty much the entire night?
'Urinating on myself? It’s not really that bad'
“Those negative things happen,” explains psychological researcher Diane Logan, “but what goes on in some peoples’ minds is: ‘I’ve learned my lesson; things will be better next time.’ Suddenly, they think: ‘Urinating on myself? It’s not really that bad -- and it’s already happened a couple of times.’ ”
This is not about alcoholism. This is about social drinkers who head back to the bottle after a brutal hangover, and maybe after a drunken brawl, a fresh mug shot (or fresh stitches) and an incoherent Facebook rant.
According to a new paper authored by Logan and psychologists at the University of Washington, people are enticed to overindulge -- yet again -- for two reasons. First, the previous wild night’s fun snippets (epic dancing, hysterical one-liners and, for some, sexual conquests) in retrospect seem, at least to them, way cooler than they really were. And, second, all those nasty things they felt, screamed, wrote, broke, soiled and later paid for? Well, those consequences weren’t truly all that nasty -- they rationalize -- and besides, lots of others have suffered similar embarrassing fates after tipping too many. (The paper was published online May 30 in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.)
Scientifically speaking, the ability to later overrate happy drinking times is called “positive memory bias.” Meanwhile, the mind’s capacity to convince itself that boozy blunders were simply out of character -- and will not become a pattern -- is known as “cognitive dissonance.”
Simply put, shots of liquid courage often seem to drown out any accompanying harm that comes with a binge, said the researchers, who asked 500 college students to complete online surveys gauging their drinking habits over the previous year while assessing how often they experienced any of 35 listed negative repercussions and any of 14 positive effects.
“Rose-colored beer goggles” -- that’s what Logan and her colleagues dubbed their theory.
“It’s kind where the brain is at battle with itself,” said Logan, lead author and a UW clinical psychology grad student. “So if I’m a good, upstanding person, those (bad behaviors) just don’t quite fit together. Either I have to change my view of myself or I have to change my view of the actual activity that occurred.”
Which leads, she said, to the rationalist’s credo: “It’s not me, it’s just a part of college, or it’s just a part of drinking.”
Are you there, Chelsea Handler? It’s us, The Body Odd.
Bill Briggs is a frequent contributor to msnbc.com and author of “The Third Miracle.”
Want more weird health news? Find The Body Odd on Facebook.
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Movies like "The Hangover" really don't help. But what is really causing this stupid behavior is that parents no longer discipline their kids and teach them the importance of self control and self respect. In this age of idiot reality shows and YouTube, people can get their 15 minutes of fame quicker than ever by doing stupid things. People like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian become overnight celebrities because of sex tapes, and they are on the cover of magazines. These girls obviously never heard the word "discipline" or "personal responsibility" as children. I bet they never did a simple chore like emptying the dishwasher or dusting the furniture in their entire childhood.
It's time for parents to take control of their children from infancy. Parents need to tell their kids "NO" and explain to them WHY they said no. I let my kids watch the TV show "Cops" ever since they were little. They saw just how stupid people looked when they were drunk, stoned, prostituting themselves, running away from a crime they had done, etc. My kids learned that bad choices and bad behavior had consequences. I will be forever grateful to FOX for putting that show on TV. We still watch it now, and my adult children have never been drunk and refuse to do so because of observing just how stupid people are when they are drunk, and how dangerous it is to drink and drive.
When movies like "Jack@ss" and TV shows like "Jersey Shore" are so popular, it's no wonder young people today are a mess.
At what point to "kids" become responsible for their own behavior? This story was not necessarily about teens. It was not necessarily about this upcoming generation of kids. I hate to tell you, but your generation and the one before that, and the one before that back into the distant, darkest past have ALL had their fair share of problem drinking behavior. I absolutely agree parents play an important role in forming the minds and attitudes of their children -- and some parents of all generations have failed miserably. But at a certain point, all "kids" have to grow up and be responsible for their own actions. As long as people insist on infantilizing young adults by still blaming their parents for the action of their off-spring, young adults will never take responsibility for their own actions or learn from their mistakes. No matter what a parent does, all individuals have the ability to think, rationalize and reason in order to make their own decisions. And anyone who has ever had experience as either a parent or a child can tell you that the two do not always agree. a lousy parent can end up with a responsible child and a responsible parent can end up with a dead-beat kid. Sure, it helps to start out with solid parenting -- but it guarantees nothing.
I just get so darned tired of the "it's the parents fault always" and "kids these days are lazy and worthless" nonsense. And by the way -- I fit neither of these categories. I am not a kid nor am I a parent.
Although I agree that parenting plays a large role until kids are teenagers or young adults, and movies can influence behavior, I think peer pressure plays a larger and larger role as children slowly grow into adults. I was a good kid raised by serious and non-drinking parents who strongly preached the evils of drinking, drinking and driving, etc. Animal House was the big party movie before I went to college and it was thought of as funny and a fantasy depiction of college life. Party movies are not new.
When I got to high school, and the "cool" kids were partying, I started to wonder what I was missing out on. I stayed on a pretty straight and narrow path through high school, but when I got to college, I made sure I made up for the fun I had "missed out" on in high school. I graduated, but my focus was having fun, and that "focus" delayed my later successes by many years. I still enjoy a cocktail with friends, but it has been years and years since I kneeled in front of the toilet claiming "never again". I didn't become an alcoholic and don't regret my college years and young single years that were really just a continuation of college fun for a while. Everyone is different, and parenting surely makes a difference, but you have to make your own choices and find your own path to responsibility after your parents provide you the basics (if you are lucky enough to have parents at home, parents that care, or parents that aren't bad examples). You can keep your kids in a box, and it may make them responsible adults, or it may make them want to buck authority even more and go crazy - your hard work paid off, but there is no guarantee.
Nothing particuarly surprising here. I love studies that just repeat common sense. Let's see what other gem news stories I can come up with based on similar logic.
"Wars, ruined economy, income disparity fail to stop Americans from voting Republican"
"Watermelon (not pear) shapes, inability to enjoy age of jet travel, fat stigma, diabetes fail to stop Americans from entering McDonald's drive-thru"
"Declining worldwide education rank, increased crime rates, loss of technology edge fail to stop outcry for cuts in education spending."
Etc., etc. etc...Now to conduct the study.
Um... LifeguardMom? Young people today are NOT a mess. People like you like to think they are when the truth is they are no better or worse than previous generations. Remember a time called "The Roaring Twenties"? How about the 50's when "Rock-n-Roll" was turning the youth of that time into sex crazed fiends? Or the 60's? The 70's? The 80's? (WOOHOO!!! The 80's ROCKED), The 90's? It's all been done before. It's all nothing new and the youth of today will come through it and the next generation will hear the same old stories of "the evils of their ways" and how they are a "lost generation"... Yada, Yada, Yada, Blah, Blah, Blah. And WHY do we keep hearing these same old rehashed lines? Because people like you Lifeguardmom who are always ready to demonize any form of self expression, or outside the norm living, by the current generation of youth!!! Get over yourself!!!
Calvin, you are 100% correct.
The more things change the more they stay the same....
Calvin-BALONEY! You call stupidity a form of self-expression? Does that come from experience? What would you call killing someone? self-expression? grow a brain dude. Maybe you didn't have parents who disciplined you or cared enough to. Yes, all generations have had their problems, but don't make excuses for yours! And by the way were you alive in those previous generations? Then you wouldn't know would you?
so glad that I clicked on the facebook rant link at work and scrolled down to see screencaps of porn at work, thanks bill I'll let you know how my boss feels about your article monday.
As far as the parenting thing goes, guess what? Parents were kids at one time. I think rather than simply preaching about the evils of certain things or telling kids not to get involved with them it helps to be honest with them. I am certainly not a perfect parent, and I don't know how things will ultimately work out with my daughter-she is an adult now and making her own choices-but I basically told her the truth about alcohol and drugs. I told her about my involvement with alcohol and how it affected me (it pretty much disgusted her, in fact she refused to listen to some of it even though my past was not as bad as some-I've been sober as her parent, though). I didn't hide from her that people did it because it made them feel good and sometimes gave them confidence, but I also told her it was a "fake" confidence and that it would be gone in the morning because that was my experience when I awoke never with hangovers but often after having blackouts. I was honest in telling her that whatever problems alcohol seemed to make go away only returned worse than ever in the morning because whatever had happened the night before was added to them. That was my experience with underage drinking, anyway. I did let her know that responsible drinking as an adult would not be a problem or cause problems as long as the person was not an alcoholic. I told her that drinking was illegal until she was 21 and cautioned her about drinking even then because of the prevalence of alcoholism in my family-though it would be up to her to decide what to do when she was 21. Then every time she made a wise choice as a teen, we praised her; as she proved more trustworthy, we gave her more freedom. (We always waited up for her, though-"trust but verify", LOL-sometimes she wanted to talk about stuff anyway.) It seemed to work out well with her at least. I always gave her a reason for every rule or limitation imposed on her, and I never lied to her; she grudgingly admitted that the rules were fair. She did have required classes in college about alcohol and binge drinking. I'm not at all anti-drinking, but I am anti-underage drinking and I'm against binge drinking and people dying from alcohol consumption.
I definitely don't think my daughter's generation is any worse than mine was. I actually see a lot of good things about her generation-such willingness to volunteer and help others, being involved with the world, and many other things that we were not.
Those who criticize our generation forget who raised it.
The same point was made, albeit much more eloquently, by Jack London in his 1913 book, John Barleycorn, which described his drunken adventures. Human nature hasn't changed much in a hundred years.
Try 1000s of years.
@LifeguardMom - Your name says it all, this has nothing to do with "The Hangover", reality shows, or celebrity socialites. Binge drinking, like it or not, is and has been part of college culture for many, many years and long before the current generation of college aged individuals in America came to be.
I agree that it is the responsibility of the parents to properly raise their child, but if they're going to go to college they are more than likely going to experiment with drugs and alcohol and sex - in a non-scientific study I just made up using common sense, most of the time they're better for it. There are no parents in college, and not all bad behavior has bad consequences.
Damn right Ed. Also, it's not the end of the world when people have a good time and don't obey social norms... ya'know?
Too much of anything is bad right? Including Civil Obedience! :)
Robian doing the next right thing is never bad. But your free to do as you see fit for yourself. Go on with your bad self. Wohoo!
I agree with you 100% Mom It starts at home and as soon as the kids are in their teens Adults including their Parents offer them alcohol. It happened to me when I was a kid my parents would invite friends over and out came the alcohol as soon as somebody got stumbling drunk everybody thought it was funny. I personally think it's disgusting to see a male or female in that state. Long story short I began drinking at 19yrs old most of my friends were experts by then they started much sooner (I despised the taste of Beer) Anyway it kind of grew on me next thing you know I'm a full blown alcoholic, Drank from the minute I woke until I needed a nap then wake up and start all over.Somehow managed to keep my job lot of call in sick days. If i was sick and couldn't hold down the alcohol I would have gran-mal seizures had a total of three all of which landed me in the hospital. I have been sober now going on six years but I have reminders of it daily I live with cirrhosis of the liver and a really messed up stomach. Will never touch another alcoholic beverage I can't I'm an Alcoholic.!
Well, I'd have to say that if someone is wetting themselves, brawling, and ending up in jail then it may not be social drinking anymore. My experience tells me that the vast majority of people who get to this point have a problem and will continue to have a problem until they stop altogether. It has always been a potent part of society and don't see it changing any time soon. No matter how much you shelter your kids they may be genetically inclined to overindulgence and lets face it, the early years of partying are fun. No matter how much we preach and try to protect the reality is that some of our kids will make serious mistakes involving alcohol. Teach them what the signs of alcoholism are so that they may be willing to get help at an early stage and try to support them through the difficulties that they will face. I'm a good example of how strong support can help someone and I'm sure that at least one of my three boys will have issues with addiction.
Yes, I was baffled by that throw-away line "this isn't about alcoholism." Yes. Yes, it is. The hallmark of alcoholism is making a promise to stop drinking -- because if you need to make such a promise in the first place, you are obviously in trouble -- coupled with an inability to keep that promise. What does Mr. Briggs think alcoholism is, if not this??
DGol, I'm glad you didn't start talking about AA. Posters on this site will eat you alive if you do. How there can be such a thing as an AA hater, I have no idea, but there are lots.
The writer of this article Bill Briggs is typical of a society that hides alcoholism and those who speak of it in commentary articles know nothing about the facts. Admitting to being an alcohilic is a personal decision but the consequences usually shuffle you along to this conclusion faster.
Be safe out there and please don't drink and drive.........
Most AA haters are just pissed that we got it and continue to get it (sobriety and they haven't). We alcoholics are really good at justification and rationalization all the while screaming on the inside our desire to stop drinking.
and then one day..if you're still alive, not in jail, or in a hospital....you finally get sick and tired of being sick and tired
I need a drink!!!
And another one
And another one
Fine. I'm a boozer!!!!!!
Because it's friday
I'm just a product of my genes. Now if I could just remember where I took them off ...
its called stupidity.
thats all it called nothing more, nothing less.
its like a bad GF, you know she is bad , but the sex is great!!
No wonder 'happy drinking times are overrated' - little joy exists in other endeavors in society now.
Uh, Lifeguard, have you ever been to college? My parents disciplined my brothers and I just fine waay back in the 50's, 60's and 70's, long before today's reality TV set such a fine standard in entertainment for us. Every one of us, and there were five of us, have had our fair share of lost weekends even into adulthood (BK, if you even MENTION the beach house....) Today, you'll find us all to be self-respecting, self-supporting, well-off, upstanding, community-minded citizens in our 50's, 60's and 70's, the parents and grandparents of bright, self-respecting, upstanding kids who all pretty much did or are doing the same sorts of stupid things with alcohol that we did. Our dad told us some of his escapades back in the 30's and 40's, and he was about as God-fearing a man as you could ever hope to meet. I even went so far as to point out drunken, idiotic behavior to my boys when they were growing up, so they could see how stupid drunk people look and act and realize that the only glamor and fun was with other drunks. It didn't do much good.
If you think you can "take control" of your children, I really feel sorry for them and for you.
Peace, and good luck.
Oh no... The morality police are back at it!! I'm looking at you "LifeguardMom". My parents were SOLID straight arrows. Yet my younger years (teens into twenties) were full of "hard partying". And I mean HARD PARTYING!!! Nothing was out of bounds or over the limit (except needles...*shudder*). Booze, Cocaine, Hallucinogens, loose women, raging wild parties, late night wild rides hopped up on a variety of drugs and alcohol... All were the norm. Eventually I grew up. Luckily neither me nor any of my friends every got seriously injured, killed, thrown in jail (well... nothing more than a few nights in the drunk tank... ;-p ), OR killed or injured anyone else. YES... We were lucky (sometimes amazingly so). BUT... at the same time, we were NEVER out to harm anybody. Not ourselves and surely not anyone else. We were just "having a good time". And we all lived through it. And we all are grown adults, in our 40's with wives, kids, jobs, mortgages, etc. Just plain old everyday working Americans.
I'm so tired of the "Morality Police" trying to demonize behaviors in teens and young adults that have been a normal part of growing up since time immemorial. Nowadays...? Hell, let's charge 'em with felonies and lock 'em up. Because turning a youngster into a convicted felon...? That's sure to help them on their way to their life's goals. Partying in and of itself is NOT a problem. It only becomes a problem if you don't know when it's time to quit and grow up. If you cannot distinguish when that time is... Then it is no longer "partying". It's now an addiction and you better get some help!!!
maybe if marijuana was a choice?
Man has been trying do ease the busy mind, for thousands of years, with thousands of substances. For some people the easing does not take much, for others the easing never comes, and the substance kills the body!
“It’s kind where the brain is at battle with itself,”
I have two kids in collage as we speak, and I went to college, and worked full time as well. The issue lifegaurd moms have is they control too much of their childrens lives, that when they go off to college and they lose thier minds, because mom is not there to jerk the leash. Kids have to fail to learn...the reason we fall as infants, is to learn to get back up and stand on thier own. All of life follows this simple rule.
I have two kids in collage as we speak, and I went to college, and worked full time as well. The issue lifeguard moms have is they control too much of their children's lives, that when they go off to college and they lose their minds, because mom is not there to jerk the leash. Kids have to fail to learn...the reason we fall as infants, is to learn to get back up and stand on their own. All of life follows this simple rule.
Our simian brethren the baboons also exhibit similar behaviours regarding the consumption of alcohol. Most partake of fermented fruit, but not to excess. A small minority will consume until incapacitated, and the third group will not touch any at all. The only difference is that the teetotalling baboons don't perceive themselves as being superior to the others.
@Old Man - It's like deja vu all over again!
-- I have 2-kids in collage (do you mean like an artistic hodgepodge of materials on the wall, or do you mean college?) as we speak ....
I have 2-kids in collage (do you mean like an artistic hodgepodge of materials on the wall, or do you mean college?) as we speak ....
Wow, I'll do this Never Again!
The devil won't let drunks go that easy!!
Actually the criticism of young people lacking discipline and self control is true in my eyes. When I was young my mother let me watch real E.R incidents, Cops and tell me stories of her ER experiences. I was taught reality from a early age- actions have consequences. I was mercilessly bullied, and that made me very distrustful of people. While it was mostly negative, I cannot deny that it made me wiser to avoid situations where I could be taken advantage of, because I knew people had little respect for me. Many young people have narcissistic tendencies and believe everyone will love and respect them.
so glad that I clicked on a link (facebook rant) on an msnbc at work only to scroll down and see screen caps of porn. Thanks bill and msnbc, usually its about 4 degrees of separation from a major news website to porn but thanks for narrowing the gap, I'll let you know what my boss thinks about your article on monday.
My daughter finished her first year of college and there are a lot of kids who don't participate in the binge drinking. In her case we have never demonized or praised alcohol and she is smart enought to make the right decisions. Her 8 AM classes probably had a lot to do with it as well. She figured out very early that you have to do less studying if you go to class.
A binge day for me as a 53 year old guy is 6 beers in a day where you start at 1 PM and have a 2 or 3 beers on the golf course (swing lube) and then if you are staying for dinner another 2 or 3 with the guys afterwards over a couple of hours. That happens about once a month - 3 or 4 times a year. I don't drink at home or otherwise unless out in a social situation where 2 is the max.
I don't see a lot of differences between the kids today except that college bars aren't as easy as they used to be to drink in for the kids and they do a lot better job of getting a Designated driver than we did when I was a kid.
Tell me I didn't read the words "a perceived social benefit"? There is a perceived social benefit to binge drinking? What is it? You get to hang out with a bunch of severely inebriated people for extended periods of time?
Not only has it been a part of college culture, it's been a part of human culture for thousands of years. How many people here can say they didn't meet a new friend, or business contact, or spouse, or girlfriend/boyfriend at a bar or party? One might even say alcohol has been one of the most significant factors in human social and mating rituals since we knew how to make the stuff. It clearly has benefits. And yes, I know some of you are saying: "But that's social drinking, not binge drinking." But there is no clear definition of what constitutes binge drinking. There really isn't any clear difference between the two.
Z- Probably a half a quart of tequila and six or more beers a night from Friday through Sunday would qualify as "binge drinking" but otherwise I agree with your comments concerning the social aspect and college culture in particular.
Rick - Yes, the extremes are easy to distinguish. But there's a large gray area in between. I personally get hangovers after just having three or four beers within two hours of each other. I'd hardly call that binge drinking.