Talk:Drunkenness

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[edit] Photo

is the photo really necessary? it doesn't illustrate anything nor enhance the meaning of the encyclopedia article.

I agree that the photo really doesn't contribute to the article. There is no proof this man is drunk. He might have any one of a myriad of other problems. He might just be exhausted for instance. There's got to be a better way to illustrate "Drunkenness". --Billywhack 11:16, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

It's not ideal but I would prefer it to be reinstated until a better one can be provided. --Guinnog 02:05, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

How is one to actually put a signature on a picture of a drunk man/woman so to speak? Someone that looks drunk, possibly is drunk This then better defines characteristics of a peson that is really drunk.

Just a thought.

JoeyGWilliams 05:30PM, 02/08/06

[edit] Brain Chemistry

A well-known side effect of alcohol is the loosening it has on inhibitions. Alcohol makes neurons (nerve cells) much more permeable. This enables sodium ions, present in axons sprouting from nerve cells, to pass more easily out of cell membranes, negatively affecting the function of these cells.

Textbook I got the principle of this from didn't explain exactly *how* this affected the function of nerve cells. Do a large number of sodium ions stay out of the cell preventing nerve impulses, or do the sodium ions going outside the cell actually start an accidental impulse? -- sodium

I do not believe this is correct; it may not be worth closer investigation. -Ikkyu2 03:32, 29 August 2005 (UTC)

"This could be caused by heightened alpha brain waves surging across the brain. "

This is a large misnomer in my opinion. "brain waves" are hardly causal. People place far too much stock in the measurement of voltage across the head. This reveals so little information about what is actually happening to the neurons within. This probably should not even be talked about. --anon

Another one of alcohol's agreeable effects is body relaxation, possibly caused by heightened alpha brain waves surging across the brain. Alpha waves are observed (with the aid of EEGs) when the body is relaxed. Heightened pulses are thought to correspond to higher levels of enjoyment.

I agree with the above commenter; brain waves are not causal of anything. They are an electroencephalographic finding. Also, the stated correlation is not valid. If anything, alcohol's effect on the EEG is to increase the amount of beta activity, not to enhance the alpha rhythm.

After reading some of the comments here, it appears to me that this article is in need of major attention; correction of factual errors and removal of offensive and culturally insensitive text would be a good start. -Ikkyu2 03:32, 29 August 2005 (UTC)

"Alcohol sensitises the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) system of the brain, making it more receptive to the neurotransmitter glutamate."

It is my understanding that alcohol has NMDA antagonist properties, i.e. it blocks the activity of glutamate. See these links:

http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:XSyN9utArUkJ:www.drugabuse.gov/NIDA_Notes/NNVol15N2/Ketamine.html+ketamine+alcohol&hl=en

http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:ver_y4flQ7UJ:www.third-plateau.org/faq/dxm_physiological.shtml+alcohol+site:third-plateau.org&hl=en

[edit] Cultural stereotypes

Some societies, such as those of Russia and Ireland, have cultural stereotypes associated with drunkenness--in such societies, the ability to drink vast quantities of alcohol without getting drunk is thought to be worthy of respect.

Time for national stereotypes: I was told once that there are countries/societies/subcultures where it is the length of time someone can refrain from going to the toilet rather than the quantity of alcohol itself that is "worthy of respect". Can anyone verify or falsify this? Obviously it's not very important -- I'm just curious. --KF 23:09 Feb 17, 2003 (UTC)

Why pick out Russia and Ireland?

[edit] Slang

We don't need the "slangs" section, do we? The slangs are no links to articles, it's just word definition, all of it. :/ Delete that section. —Sverdrup (talk) 03:55, 30 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Keep. Some of the terms redirect here. Also they are all colloquial terms for the state of drunkeness thus valid. quercus robur

Having a list of expressions that are used as synonyms of drunk was also the idea behind posting the Out of It book cover (which, however, was deleted on September 1, 2003). --KF 10:23, 30 Dec 2003 (UTC)

I came to this article specifically looking for slang variations of "drunk", and had to trawl through the history. Helpful, much? Artiste-extraordinaire 02:17, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

I honestly believe that there should be a link to a separate Wikipedia entry for the numerous slang terms, particularly in the English language, for the state of drunkenness, an individual who is currently or often in such a state, and the places that such individuals go in order to attain such a state! If I need to write the article myself, I will.:::: —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lhargrove (talk • contribs) 04:09, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

Cam't that just be left to urban dictionary...? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.214.77.188 (talk) 05:00, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Units of measurement for DUI

when the concentration of alcohol in the bloodstream is over about 500mg per 100ml why such a strange denotion: either 5 g/l or 5mg/ml or approx. 0.5% or 5‰ would seem clearer. Bemoeial 23:47, 17 Feb 2004 (UTC)

I don't know about other countries, but here in the UK, mg per ml is how the maximum legal limit of alcohol in the bloodstream while driving is defined, so there is some precedent for using those units. --hooverbag 19:40, 2005 Mar 13 (UTC)

[edit] Misc

Removed It can make ugly girls more hot, for example. Didn't seem like it would make sense in an encyclopedia. -Jeshii 14:30, May 4, 2004 (UTC)

Does anyone think that the term high when talking about drugs shouldnt redirect here? alchohol isnt the only cause of being high

Seems to me that the last bit about the Ancient Greek superstition doesn't really fit in with the sort of information presented by the rest of the article. But you'll have to pardon me if it DOES fit in, and my brain just isn't working properly- I've been doing shots of tequila all night, so...--Deridolus 08:25, 20 May 2005 (UTC)

I have trouble with the title.

[edit] Dosage

It would be convenient if this article listed different stages of intoxication and how much ethanol per kg body weight constituted each stage. As a tee-totaler I am ineligible to provide this information. = ) But it would be useful nonetheless. I think I saw some kind of table with this info in an AMA publication once, but I may be mistaken. Jeeves 12:10, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I agree: Wikipedia is *not* a medical dictionary, but neither this article nor alcoholism gives a description suitable for the general observer (as you and I are (g)), story writer and "persons concerned about people they know". At what stage does "regularly becoming drunk" shade into alcoholism? 212.85.6.26 16:28, 8 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Medical pointers

An improvement to this article is basic* medical treatment of intoxicated persons. Basic warning signs when to cut off, recovery position, reasonable vital signs, and when to call an emergency response team. -GChriss

Another improvement would invovle archiving the chemistry and biology involved in achieving the state of drunkenness, the processes involved in detoxification, and the physiological consequences of drunkenness. I'm astounded that there is no science in this article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.54.95.200 (talk) 13:24, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Uncited Research

Behavioural changes associated with drunkenness are, to some degree, contextual. A scientific study found that people drinking in a social setting significantly and dramatically altered their behaviour immediately after the first sip of alcohol, well before the chemical itself could have filtered through to the nervous system. Likewise, people consuming non-alcoholic drinks often exhibit drunk-like behavior on a par with their alcohol-drinking companions even though their own drinks contained no alcohol whatsoever.

I've seen this same language used in a number of articles online, but it's never accompanied by a reference. Does anyone know when/where this study was conducted, or have a link to information on it online? Seems very relevant.

[edit] Symptoms of drunkennes

What exactly are they (g): as with the related article on alcoholism all technical and no general description (eg the general change from "pleasantly relaxed" to "falling down drunk") - and where the danger points are.

[edit] Cultural attitudes

I made two main changes for this section in the interests of NPOV: I changed "leading as it often does to alcoholism" to "as it may lead to alcoholism", since the use of 'often' is vague and therefore misleading; and I toned down the bit about how being sober may be 'socially unaccceptable'. It also included the dread word 'often', and generally sounded a bit too much like it was trying to say "drunk people are often mean to sober people". Oh, and in the last paragraph I changed 'church' to 'Church' to keep it specific to the Catholics, and changed 'don't mind' to 'don't prohibit'. --Last Malthusian 10:42, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] What image?

This page has a {{reqimage}} tag but I don't see any specific request for an image, and nothing sensible comes to mind. Any ideas or should we remove the request? Tim Pierce 05:40, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

I'm going to remove the request. An image won't improve this article's quality anyway. Mrtea (talk) 02:09, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Proper Disambiguation or Related Links

I believe that there should be a general intoxication page, possibly with information from the DSM-IV(-TR); The "related links" section should contain a specific link to alcohol drunkenness, or it could be listed at the top. This would present the information without having the bias. Brian 04:27, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Don't Drink and Type

I've never tried to type while intoxicated, so I can't say it's untrue that alcohol can lead to "impaired speech or impaired ability to type". But that is one odd thing to mention at the start of the article. How about juggling? Doesn't drunkenness impair your ability to juggle, hang-glide, tap-dance, and whistle? Since driving while drunk is recognized as a serious social problem, I would expect to see it mentioned there, but not typing.

It's not really an error, of course. Just...weird.

I've been drinking tonighti and for the sake of scinece i've dicided i woujld not backspace. ....at least we know its true

--68.35.204.107 00:08, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Content

This page seems more of a joke :) than a serious article.

--- OFTEN THE CASE IN KU CLUB ON A WEEKEND

What the hell did this mean?

In anycase removed it.

[edit] Religion, drinking, and intoxication

This article is about drunkenness. For this reason I deleted irrelevant material on religious prohibitions that are against drinking rather than against intoxication.Behaviorist 00:32, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

I also notice that nothing is mentioned about Islam's rules about drinking.

Why is it bad to mention Islam? It's a valid religion like any othre. I may be drunk right now, but I can recognize that this article talks much more extensively about Christianity's views of drunkenness than any othe rreligion. Why is that? Eithe rbalance it out by talking aobut other religions, or don't make it so biased by not talking osm uch about JUST Christianity. 4.234.51.175 20:49, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Binge drinking

"Binge drinking" is perceived as being a recent problem in the UK mostly by certain newspapers. I see little evidence in reality of it being either a problem or being new. So I've edited that clause out. DrHydeous 11:42, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Binge drinking is a serious problem in the United States and especially amongst college-aged populations. I believe that this section is relevant and to some individuals, the topic is relatively new in terms of being discussed openly and particularly on the national news! user:lhargrove

[edit] Quotations

Unencyclopedic - will anyone object if I remove it and provide a link to wikiquote:Alcohol? riana_dzasta 14:12, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Quotes about being drunk is not exactly the same as quotes about alcohol(ism). Robin22 01:53, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

I think, that this is a great plus for the page. Not only does it have abundant following and humorous entity. It also relates completely with drunkeness as a whole. To take the quotation section off this page would not be good, imho.

JoeyGWilliams 06:25PM, 02/08/06

Agreed. No rule against interesting and relevant content. Britannica is not the be-all and end-all of what's "encyclopedic". Bill Oaf 10:58, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

I have deleted around four quotations from the part which were not exactly about the nature of alcoholic beverage. Now it seems more distinguished and shiny to me (and no, i'm not drunk :o)) please check it out sometime. Angelophiliac 03:48, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

I restored one, because it made such a good section closer, IMO. -GTBacchus^(talk) 03:50, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Number one on Google

[1] ranks #1 on Google for "Alcoholism"NumberOneGoogle 19:01, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

For the Japanese proverb, I've only seen it in form of "the man drinks the first glass, the first glass drinks the second and the third glass drinks the man" It seems to make more sense the way I have heard it, not the way it is currently written. 70.64.104.35 01:02, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Winston Churchill Quote

"You're drunk, disgustingly drunk!" "And you're ugly, disgustingly ugly! But tomorrow I shall be sober." - A drunken Winston Churchill responds to Bessie Matlock MP.

Does anyone have a reference for that? Because I've seen it attributed to Voltaire. Maybe both of them said it, but then Voltaire should get the credit. Robin22 01:50, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

All of the quotes need to be sourced. --Guinnog 02:02, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

the first churchill one is in the little book of churchill quotes the second seem like a different version of the first.

[edit] Red nose

On some earlier versions of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer's article, it says a red nose was associated with drunkeness. What is the origin of the "red-nosed drunk"? WizardDuck 03:27, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

I think it's because the superficial blood vessels of the nose (among other areas) dilate in the presence of alcohol becoming, over time, perminantly distended leaving the blood flow close to the skin hence the colour. --Meridius 16:31, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Animals and drunkeness

are there any articles on animal drunkeness?--Filll 16:52, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

i got this: http://www.cannabis.net/weblife.html Angelophiliac 03:53, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] what is drunk?

If you wake up in the morning, after a night of drinking, but still remember every event that occurred during that night of drinking, are you considered drunk? Maybe this is the wrong place to be asking, lol...but either way, maybe someone could expand on it and add it in...Also, what about hang-overs, usually occurring the morning after a night of drinking, if you do not get a hang-over (usually throbbing head/headache, i guess?); was the person still considered "drunk" if they don't have a hang-over the next morning?

This depends entirely on who is defining it. In the United States over a .08 blood/alcohol content is generally considered "Drunk" at least when defining it in reference to driving. On a broader level, this is a subjective question and there is no definitively correct answer. It depends on the person/institution that is defining the term. Cadentsoul 01:48, 15 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Article name

I think the name of this article is poor. I think there are more clinical terms for it. Maybe "Alcohol Inebriation" or something of that sort? Anybody else have any thoughts on this? Maybe we should have a vote. Who supports a name change to "Alcohol Inebriation"? If you think this is a poor choice, please leave what you believe is a more appropriate name. I think a week is a reasonable amount of time to vote before a move. --Billywhack 11:22, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Intoxication

Intoxication is not the same as drunkenness, it's much broader, why the hell does it link to drunkenness? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 145.118.33.132 (talk • contribs)

Because no one bothered to write the article yet. Don't complain, write. Get off your butt and write.--Filll 03:27, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Quotes

What is with half the page being quotations. Some are barely relevant to the subject.

I'm going to cut a bunch out. I've added a link to the Wikiquote page on alcohol (they don't have a page on drunkeness), so I'm going to cut all the quotes from TV shows and other less august sources. Natalie 00:09, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

I also ended up cutting any quotes that were based on reversal of words (the spin is rooming, etc) and anything that was primarily about alcohol and not drunkeness. I think it's a bit better now. Natalie 00:12, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Also, the Japanese Proverb and the quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald are basically the same. I'm not sure they should both be there. Rajrajmarley 23:04, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Studies, symptoms

Shouldn't we add things about the symptoms of "drunkenness" and studies to that effect? As someone who is mildly drunk while adding this comment, I suggest we look into studies of drunk individuals and look at how they differ from sober individuals or themselves when sober (e.g. decreased eyesight, balance, e.t.c)* to the article? *Don't add this w/o citation, as it is merely OR based on what I'm going through at the moment. --GracieLizzie 00:44, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes. This article needs much more content as to why ethanol does what it does to folks.Gwen Gale (talk) 01:40, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Merge

If you want this article to be more science-oriented, then merging Acute alcohol intoxication into it would be an easy way to start that process. WhatamIdoing (talk) 07:53, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

Agreed. Jmlk 1 7 09:35, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Science Needed

This article is disgraceful! It is number one in Google's results for a search of "intoxication." As such, it ought to provide encyclopedic information, yet science is completely lacking. What chemistry goes on in the brain that produces the symptoms of drunken behavior? How is alcohol absorbed into the bloodstream? How is it eliminated? These are the real topics that need to be addressed. Law, Religion, Folklore, and Famous Drinking Quotations are incidental. Jedwards01 (talk) 05:19, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Hmmm. A merge with acute alcohol intoxication has been proposed since February without action. I like the idea of having a separate article for social and cultural aspects of drunkenness that is relatively light on medicine and science, but the redirects and names might use clarification. First we need to dispose of the merge one way or the other. Wnt (talk) 20:03, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Religious views

In addition to the scriptures listed in this section, Ephesians 5:18 specifically commands believers not to get drunk. 209.50.178.50 (talk) 15:07, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

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