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Subscribe to RSSGetting hammered to the point of not remembering much, if anything, about it is a pretty common experience for some people on college campuses or during a long holiday weekend. Reconstructing what happened during a bout of booze-fueled amnesia can either make for a hilarious movie plot like "The Hangover" or an interesting research project.
Although not inspired by the Hollywood blockbuster, a recent study looked at alcohol-induced memory blackouts hoping to learn how people "fill in the blanks" afterward and whether this information is accurate. Researchers found that people frequently turn to unreliable sources to piece together these forgotten memories.
In the study, published in the journal Memory, 280 British college students completed an online survey. Students were asked whether they had experienced either a partial blackout -- where they remembered bits and pieces of what happened after they started drinking, or a total one -- forgetting everything about what they did or saw until they woke up the next day.
Among the students who drank, 24 percent of them admitted to having a total blackout while 37 percent had a partial one. Drinking a lot within a short period of time typically causes a blackout, explains lead author Robert Nash.
Researchers found that blackout sufferers were somewhat more likely to ask people who had also been intoxicated for details of the hazy episode rather than asking people who weren't drunk but had also witnessed it. Nearly 44 percent said they had seen a photograph or video reminding them of what happened.
"I was surprised at how highly motivated people were to reconstruct these forgotten alcohol-soaked experiences, despite knowing that doing so can often lead to considerable embarrassment or panic," admits Nash, a lecturer in psychology at the University of Surrey in Guildford, England.
He says asking other people who were there is often the only way we can find out what happened. But that relying on friends or acquaintances who were probably drunk can make their recollections less than 100 percent reliable.
Unreliable sources can lead to memory errors and sometimes false beliefs about behaviors during a forgotten time-period. This may be true not only for boozy blackouts but for other past experiences, whether it's cobbling together childhood memories or even in cases of wrongful conviction.
Interestingly roughly three-quarters of the study participants admitted they might have unintentionally made up information when a friend passed out, such as claiming the person had sex with a stranger or puked on someone.
And nearly 17 percent of blackout sufferers later discovered they were misled by incorrect information, often coming from friends.
But having a blackout and being eager to know what happened, seems perhaps to change people's perspectives on whether a particular source could be trusted, Nash points out. "So we place faith in information sources that we would othewise consider highly untrustworthy."
His advice? "Be aware when reconstructing events of whether you are placing trust in a source because someone is truly reliable or because that person is the only option."
Related:
- About last night: Biology of the booze blackout
- Why do hangovers seem so much worse as we get older?
- I'll never drink again! Never mind. Cheers!
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makes we wanna get hammered now
I like being a detective. I may just filly my tummy up on grain alcohol and see where that takes me. <--- Sarcasm, but I do like detective work.
I have found, that it's best for me to stay cognizant and know that beer and dark liquor is good and clear is bad.
Color of liquor has nothing to do with it. If you're having several drinks, just avoid the rail liquors. It's more expensive but you won't feel as bad next morning.
It's funny. Me and a group of friends would always go out together, maybe 5-6 nights a week, and get pretty hammered. I was the guy who would totally forget the last 1-2hrs of each night. The other guys, just as drunk and stumbling as I was, would almost always remember what happened. This went on for about 2yrs. I don't drink much anymore, but I never understood how guys could be equally drunk, but only certain ones forget everything, while the others retained it all.
Not true, although I am surprised by Winker's assertion that dark = good and clear = bad. Dark liquors (and dark beers, red wines and other darker alcohol) contain greater levels of tannins, congeners and other toxins that result in worse hangovers. Here's a wired article on the subject and something from Harvard. So, yes-- color does have something to do with it.
My most recent black out? My bachelor party. It is the only time I've blacked out at a bar...
Can a person blackout during a blackout?
That is the scientific question that requires a research grant.
Black-outs are memory losses due to excessive consumption of alcohol in a short period of time. SImply, hangovers are primarily caused by the presence of acetaldehyde which is the first metabolic substance produced by the liver in the process of detoxification. Acetaldehyde is nasty - makes one very sick. the liver then processes a second metabolism which changes the alcetaldehyde to a salt (acetate) and other byproducts, water, etc., then more liver metabolic work further converts these into products which are excreted. The trick to avoid having hangovers is to (a) not drink alcohol, or (b) have a very fast metablizing liver, with lots of good ezymes that quickly detoxifies the two three alcoholis drinks of an evening to acetaldehyde (while one is sleeping, one hopes), so that upon awakening the effects of the previous nights drinking are fairly well worn off. However, the standard metabolism rate for most people is pretty consistent (Blood Alcohol Concentration analyses, the regular BAC tests given to suspected Drunk Drivers are based on this consistency)
blackout during a blackout? I think thats called death.
Blacked out and trolling the vine. Yee haw!
All I can say is thank god my boozing days were before the advent of social media and digital cameras.
AMEN BROTHER!!! Preachin' to the choir here!
roflmao.....
Being Native American with a touch of Irish/Scottish thrown in, I'm thankful that I am allergic to everything alcoholic.
@screminmimi:
I'm allergic to alcohol too! It causes a loss of coordination, slurred speech, disorientation, and occasionally vomiting.
All it does for me is give me a massive migraine, cause vomiting, difficulty breathing, skin rash... and that's within the first two sips.
screminmimi: that is exactly what antabuse (drug supposed to make you stop drinking) does to me! which is why i don't take it anymore.
also my half-sister was born with what you have, so she's like my opposite. (we're chinese-americans). genetics are strange!
lmao...your a mix of blood extremely intolerant to alcohol and exactly the opposite...you should be a phenomenal drunk! lmao wish the rest of the natives around here were like that.
Kegstand!!! Woohoo!!!
Chug chug chug chug...
vodka with blackberry raspberry cranberry juice and splash of oj now thats good @!$%# right there
Now all I can think about is Makers Mark on the rocks. Thanks a lot.
People who drink to excess are out to do damage to themselves, they want to hurt after the fact...
ever hear of anyone "Blacking out" on Pot?
Refined products are poison to your body... that's why one pukes when they drink.
it has nothing to do with being "refined", it's the alcohol that makes you puke. I don't throw up when I eat cookies made with refined flour.
@cherfer:
obviously you haven't eaten enough cookies.
@Mister: You have absolutely no grounding in science, do you? "Refined" products are poison?
So every time you get a bacterial infection, you reach for a nice warm petri dish full of fungal bloom? You drink water straight from a pond in your back yard?
Come on now. Do you even know what the "refining" process entails in the making of high-proof spirits?
But keep on smoking that pot. I'm sure it does wonders for your clearly scientific mind.
refined flour feeds the candida growing in your intestine if you've ever taken an antibiotic...you have to starve the candida to be rid of the bacterial overgrowth....what he saying has some truth.
I've tried to booze-blackout. The best I've managed was 8 shots of EverClear and passing out.
I think the required amount of booze for me to black out exceeds toxic levels, and my Zzz-level is lower than the toxic threshold.
that's hilarious... I am the same way.
Cheap red wine is the worst. I finished off a bottle of French maid in 25 minutes one time...Oh God was that not smart.
I finished off a French maid once in about 25 minutes, then started drinking....
forget college kids, ask my ex husband. He blacks out all the time!
Is it a "Blackout" or a "convenient" memory lapse?
My daughter was killed last year by a man who drank to blackout and went driving. Four hours after he crashed into her at 75mph on a 45mph road and killed her he still had a blood level of .29. He claims not to remember a thing. The winesses can help him fill in the missing pieces in how he killed my daughter.
What a senseless tragedy, sorry for your loss Freddd. I too was a bit surprised by the carefree tone and attitude of both the article and the replies. Since when is it common or funny to drink to the point of blacking out? This is real life, not hollywood.
I am so sorry for your loss Freddd.
if it wasn't for alcohol my daughter wouldn't have been born...goes both ways.
Whoever paid for this "research" might be willing to fund some research to find out if the sun rises in the morning.
I was so drunk I peed in the corner of our bedroom...my wife was screaming at me...
I also passed out in the driveway and woke to 2 cops shining flashlights in my face.
I love alcohol.
Is this you, BRUCE???? ;)
i got hammered last night and don't remember the walk home. i woke up on the couch with a movie on repeat. alcohol is poison.
But we must always remember....and obey those who know whats best for us....alcohol is good...marijuana is bad...as long as we have these people who "know whats best for all of us"....I feel a lot safer......
When someone experience an alcohol blackout, it is a prime indicator of serious problems with alcohol!
Interestingly roughly three-quarters of the study participants admitted they might have unintentionally made up information when a friend passed out . . .
Ridiculously written sentence. Have you no editor?
my only question, how in the hell do i sign up for one of these studies????