“Can alcohol change your personality?”
My husband acts like a different person when he drinks. I want to know if alcohol can change your personality?
7 Answers
Hello,
Sure, it can. Because it is a drug (legal), alcohol is a depressor of the Central Nervous System.
Sure, it can. Because it is a drug (legal), alcohol is a depressor of the Central Nervous System.
Absolutely! Alcohol has a powerful effect biochemically on the brain. It also lifts inhibitions or allows more dormant or what we refer to in mental health, repressed sides of the personality to emerge such as anger. For example, a patient once described this as the "Hulk" that came out in their spouse in an otherwise meek person. Also known as "truth serum," alcohol may have deleterious effects.
For many people, alcohol creates an overall sense of happiness and camaraderie. But in others, it has the opposite effect. People who possess aggression-promoting personality traits are the most susceptible to alcohol's effects on aggression. 2% of people will become very depressed or cry while drinking alcohol.
OMG, **YES** totally. Some people become gentle and sweet. Some go to sleep. But the most common personality change is RAGE, often coupled with verbal or physical abuse. If your husband is abusive when drunk, you should insist on him getting sober immediately. You can stage an "intervention" to accomplish this, using a specialist addiction counselor called an "interventionist" to help set this up. If he's abusive and won't change, you need to separate from him.
Alcohol intoxication has different stages and they are the following:
Stage 1: Sobriety, or Subclinical Intoxication.
Stage 2: Euphoria.
Stage 3: Excitement.
Stage 4: Confusion.
Stage 5: Stupor.
Stage 6: Coma.
Stage 7: Death.
Depending on the stage, the person may have different behaviors. Alcohol does not change your personality but changes your behavior. Sometimes it exacerbates or blunts some aspects of the personality. Stages 1, 2 and 3 may be the most common stages you see in people that drinks socially and, in stages 2-3 the person may get desinhibited and can do things he usually does not do. Stages 4 to 7 are the more severe ones and, in some cases, are life threatening.
Stage 1: Sobriety, or Subclinical Intoxication.
Stage 2: Euphoria.
Stage 3: Excitement.
Stage 4: Confusion.
Stage 5: Stupor.
Stage 6: Coma.
Stage 7: Death.
Depending on the stage, the person may have different behaviors. Alcohol does not change your personality but changes your behavior. Sometimes it exacerbates or blunts some aspects of the personality. Stages 1, 2 and 3 may be the most common stages you see in people that drinks socially and, in stages 2-3 the person may get desinhibited and can do things he usually does not do. Stages 4 to 7 are the more severe ones and, in some cases, are life threatening.
Yes, behavioral and emotional changes (personality changes) may occur as a result from overuse of alcohol. These personality changes are often first detected by family and close friends.
See this link for some insight into your question:
https://www.altamirarecovery.com/blog/the-symptoms-of-an-alcoholic-personality-and-what-it-means-for-your-family/
https://www.altamirarecovery.com/blog/the-symptoms-of-an-alcoholic-personality-and-what-it-means-for-your-family/
