This is more commonly known as ”wet brain” and makes you suffer from confusion, muscle coordination issues and memory problems. No matter the differences between individuals’ drinking habits, the focus of a person with severe AUD is when they can drink. This could be because alcoholics feel more like themselves when they can consume alcohol.

Underlying issues such as anxiety and depression can influence your personality when drinking. People that drink can become angry as they continue to drink over the years – lending to can ptsd cause blackouts the idea of a mean drunk. Regular blackouts due to drinking can be a clear sign of alcohol addiction, and if you experience them, it should be time to re-evaluate your alcohol habits.

Alcohol and Personality Changes?

Seeking treatment for alcohol misuse, particularly through therapy, is often recommended. Because blackouts tend to occur at high BACs, they commonly stem from binge drinking, defined as a pattern of drinking that increases a person’s BAC to 0.08 percent or higher. This typically occurs after 4 drinks for women and 5 drinks for men—in about 2 hours. In fact, many people who have blackouts do so after engaging in a behavior known as high-intensity drinking, which is defined as drinking at levels that are at least twice as high as the binge-drinking thresholds for women and men. Drinking to the point of a blackout has gained pop culture notoriety in recent years.

In certain social circles, binge drinking and blacking out can be the point of partying. Some people might joke about a precarious drinking episode that they or a friend had. This isn’t always the case in the mind of a person suffering from an alcohol use disorder (AUD) or alcoholism. To a person suffering from an AUD, a blackout can bring feelings of shame, remorse, discontent, irritability, concern, and fear—which are also symptoms of borderline personality disorder. The short-term effects of a blackout typically include mental health problems, such as depression, or physical issues, like an injury, a disturbing personal encounter, or a sexually transmitted disease.

Understanding the Step-by-Step Process of Alcohol Blackouts and Personality Changes

They can help determine whether further evaluation may be helpful and whether treatment may be needed. Research indicates that blackouts are more likely to occur when alcohol enters the bloodstream quickly, causing the BAC to rise rapidly. This could happen if someone drinks on an empty stomach or consumes large amounts of alcohol in a short amount of time. Because females, on average, weigh less than males and, pound for pound, have less water in their bodies, they tend to reach higher peak BAC levels than males with each drink and do so more quickly. This helps explain why being female appears to be a risk factor for having blackouts.

The amount of alcohol consumed is significant as moderate doses can lead to subtle enhancements in sociability and confidence, but heavy drinking results in mood swings and impulsivity, sometimes even aggression. In many cases, borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by remorse, shame, or guilt in the frame of suicidal thinking. In cases of borderline personality disorder, blackout drinking may result when a person intends to do harm upon his or herself. Mental disorders like BPD are treatable for the most part, but drugs and alcohol must be taken out of the equation for treatment to be successful.

Additional Alcohol Articles

The more alcohol that is consumed, the higher the level of memory loss will be. Some may lose a block of minutes or hours, or even days, depending on the amount of alcohol that was consumed. If you are worried about personality changes when drinking and your relationship with alcohol, it might be time to consider rehab. There are plenty of options available to you – depending on if you want outpatient or inpatient treatment.