by Bill Urell
Alcoholic blackouts can range from being mildly annoying to life threateningly dangerous. Do you know the facts? Read on to learn more about alcohol induced blackouts.
The occurrence of an alcohol blackout is unpredictable both in severity and in timing.
When an individual experiences an alcohol induced blackout, his consciousness remains throughout the period but will be unable to have complete recollection of what happened during that time. The events are never imprinted on the brain for recall. It’s amnesia in a way, but it’s caused by drug or alcohol abuse and not a traumatic or physically debilitating experience.
There are two types of alcohol induced blackouts commonly studied:
1. Fragmentary or partial blackouts. These tend to occur when lower levels of alcohol are taken. You might forget names or what you were talking about in the middle of a conversation. These partially interfere with memory formation during intoxication. People can sometimes remember the missing pieces if they are prompted or reminded of the context of conversation or situation.
2. Complete or en bloc, blackouts.
When a person has a complete alcohol blackout, he is still physically and mentally able to perform actions although he may seem not like his usual self. In this type of blackout, an individual is still conscious but will be unable to retain any memory of what happened during his blackout, what so ever. Prompting or reminders will not lead to recall the events. It appears that the ability to transfer and imprint memory from the present and short term to long term storage is blocked.
How alcohol and drugs can cause blackouts -
In most cases, blackouts are a result of
binge drinking, that is, consuming an excessive quantity of liquor in a brief period of time. This has been confirmed by a research conducted for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism which reports how large and especially rapid consumption of alcohol can produce partial or complete blackouts.
One researcher states "If recreational drugs were tools, alcohol would be a sledgehammer" alcohol produces detectable memory impairments beginning after just one or two drinks. As the dose increases, so does the magnitude of the memory impairments."
Other things you should know about blackouts -
Age is a determining factor in how much alcohol you can safely consume. A woman’s tendency to black out more easily probably results from differences in how men and women metabolize alcohol. Females also may be more susceptible than males to milder forms of alcohol induced memory impairments, even when men and women consume comparable amounts of alcohol.
The dangers of experiencing blackouts -
Surveys have discovered that college students who had experienced alcoholic blackouts found out later on they had participated in various high-risk activities like engaging in sex without protection, driving under the influence of alcohol, or committing vandalism and other similar offenses.
People who experience blackouts may at that time have an impaired ability to decide and judge and possess minimal or no control at all over their impulses.
Tips for safe drinking and preventing and managing blackouts -
The only sure-fire method for not having a blackout or memory problems is to not drink. One puzzling aspect of blackouts is that the occurrence and consequences cannot be predicted.
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Good article….I used to black out every once in a while during my drinking days, and the experience was always a complete nightmare. Your friends or family would tell you these terrible things that you did or said, and you could only sit there in stunned disbelief….because you honestly can’t remember a single thing from the night before! There is simply no defense against what they are saying, because your brain was simply not recording any of it.
Experiencing blackouts is a huge wake up call. It shook me up really bad and forced me to take a long hard look at my drinking. I became nervous about the possibility of blacking out again so I tried to isolate myself so that I wouldn’t hurt anyone else. This is insanity! What good is it to lock yourself away and drink to oblivion? I tried to cling to the belief that drinking and drugging was fun, but look at where it had led me…..wanting to lock myself away in case I blacked out again. And this was in my mid twenties!
Thank goodness I finally was blessed with surrender. I stopped fighting the endless fight and gave myself over to recovery.
A big thanks goes to Bill and this website, for spreading a message of true recovery. Keep up the good work Bill!
This is a good article. I have experience having a blackout because of too much drinking. I am shocked when I wake in my bed not remembering what happened when I was drinking. Not drinking is really one solution that I need to do so as not to experience this again.
I think so that the article here is not for ordinary users but for the people who drinks. They must understand what will happen if they drink too much and how much it will affect them and their health. Rather than having much side effects, it is still wise to learn from others experience.
Thanks for the information. I knew someone who has the same experience of having to drive home late at night without any single accident happening to him even when he is very drank. In the morning he ask his partner how he manage to get home safe and sound, alive and kicking ready for the days drinking spree again. He did not learn his lessons well, got sick and now he is gone.
Hi. I just blacked out first time last night, on my wife birthday celebration. Maybe the enthusiasm makes me drink so quickly that i missed the most of the party. I was there but i can’t remember when we sang happy birthday. I’ve seen the photos and videos and my behavior was stupid and gross. I hate myself right now and give whatever to remember the things that happened.
i black out maybe every third time i drink so around once a month it happens, sometimes it can be 2 or 3 hours where i cant remember a single thing, in these blackouts i have, abused people close to me, punched friends, engaged in sex with strangers and committed various minor crimes like vandalisim, , they have got worse as i have got older im now 27 and its starting to freak me out so ive cut my drinking down a lot, i dont wanna kill someone and then not remember it or something crazy like that, and my brain is most likely getting badly damaged, i wrote this to show other people that may get this that your not alone, its freaky but just try to stick to beer cause wine and spirits is what triggers mine, im just a beer man now, good luck everyone
Blacking out is never fun. It’s hard on the body as soon as you get up and it makes you feel like crap. It’s definitely from ODing on alcohol.
Daniel@Weight Loss Tips´s last blog ..Loss Tips Weight
I agree with micheal wine and liq,, are the one to take me 2 my blackouts it’s very scary when u dont remember what happened and when ur friends have 2 tell u what u did ? I was faught my brother and woke up the next day with a broken lip wondering what happened. Well i guess i know now ! The last one i heard i almost went to jail . I really didnt want to know the rest .. All I know is that i quit i really didnt know till now that it was drinking i thought something was taking over me and felt like i was crazy wondering how i could live 5 hours of my life without remembering … What i have 2 say 2 all it’s never 2 late Alcohol one day or an other will end up distroying us it will only take u to fail or ending ur life or others or spending the rest of ur life in jail ! Always do whats best 4 u and ur love ones and find ur faith in god ! My god bless all of u :0)~
I want to caution everyone that beer really isn’t much safer. I had a brief (15-minute) blackout a couple nights ago, & all I drank was 7 or 8 beers. Got snapped out of it when my car crashed into a snow bank. No fun. Blessings and healing to all who read this.
Thanks you for the heads up. This should be a lesson to everyone.
I think there has been enough info and advice out there for quite a while now for people not to know or understand the dangers of drinking too much alcohol, and therefore there can be no excuse or pleas of ignorance.
hey there guys n gals…. I have a partner who blacks out…. I havent been with him for long but my experience with his black out I hope is one that can help…. as a couple we mesh so perfect. We laugh, cry, and do what all normal couples do, but my partners drinking has gotten so out of control to the point of him now blacking out… I never understood this term with drinking until he mentioned it to me… Never has he verbally abused me or accussed me of unthinkable things or been unsupportive… he has always been wonderful until one weekend… we werent together and it was my birthday. I told him I was going out with the girls to celebarate it… Normally my partner who I adore would say “No worries baby,,, go have fun” but this time he abused me verbally telling me I was untrustworthy that he knew what I was like when I went out and that was a big flirt with other men. Such accusations killed me and almost stopped me from going out with my friends… I cried for a whole day…. the following day I was so mad at my partner and he had absolutely no idea why I was short, abrupt and rude to him then he asked me what my problem was… When I told him he went quiet, he was shocked… asked me if it was him on the phone or someone else, told me hed never say anything like he did (which he never did) and told me that hed never do anything to hurt me and was just so stunned and it wasnt until I had his brother in law confirm our phone call that he couldnt handle what he had done to me and went to seek help…. I love him and lukily for him I am researching the abuse on alcohol to learn how to support him but this is a problem and one that you all must admit to and stop pushing aside and denying. You only get so many chances in this life and I am it for my partner, of all the bad that has been in his life finally he has a new start and already he is doing the very thing that destroys something so rewarding and beautiful with what is real and what is in it such as good positive friends, a beautiful understanding companion, children etc… my advice to all of you who experience such toxicity is to look for mates who are supportive, if they dont support you in a positive way then granted they are nothing good in your life…. turn to good out reaches and DONT be ashamed to ask for help…. there is HEAPS out there and people like me that are forgiving AND non judgemental… DO SOMETHING NOW DONT PUT IT OFF,, good luck to you all and I wish you all well as this is something Id hate to have to ever experience. xxx
I want to say thank you for the information you have provided me here. My husband has had a few episodes of alcohol induced blackouts over the past few years. In all instances he has abused me both verbally and physically. He is not an abusive husband towards me when the blackouts haven’t occurred and is a strong believer in not abusing women. I am in need of finding information/help on where to go from here. Should I be looking into anger/alcohol managements, counseling or simply be going to him saying he needs to quit drinking completely?
I hope we continue to try and figure out black outs, but I can tell you that as a former heavy drinker, I could and did black myself out on a regular basis, I think it is like the drug addict who learns to keep himself level by knowing what drugs to take. My opinion is that people on the streets are expert at maintaining a black out. There is a lot of truth in that old saying “Feeling No Pain.”
Worried,
Look up Al Anon, and Alcoholics Anonymous in your area. You’ll get your answers. Best of Luck.
Hi..I would like to let you all know the danger I experienced after my first and I know last blackout which happened only at the weekend. I have been looking for answers on blackouts and found this site so please take heed if your reading this and female.
I was at a family wedding at the weekend, emotions were high and we had been drinking wine with the meal and then spirits later in the evening. Everybody was having a great time, I rememeber the bar closing at 1am and then the next thing I recall is being woken up by a concierge on one of the hotel landings naked! My dress was covering my modesty so I was told!
I have no recolection of how I got there and my parter was mad at me at first but because my shoes were found in the toilet and various recolections were put together he realised that I had just been drunk and sick.
I have NO clue as to what has happened to me.! The hotel informed the police who had little sympathy as I was drunk. But I have now had to go and get the morning after pill, STI Tests, Hepititis jags, and HIV tests just to put my mind at ease that I was not raped or assaulted.
Just to say, I am not a big drinker, I am ususally the first to lecture anyone about their drinking if I think it’s exessive. I have an empty feeling in my stomach at the thought that I don’t what happened to me if anything!
This was the biggest lesson I have had in life and I have learned from it and I hope anyone reading this see’s that blackouts are serious and can be very dangerous!!!!
my girlfriend just had a blackout, she says. I am not understanding this but she left a party with another man, and had sex with him but claims she does not know what I am talking about, she says she does not remember any of this, but I sure do. She was pretty drunk and started acting differently than usual, very flirtatious but I just assumed she was really drunk but when she did this I knew there was a problem, she blames me for not stopping her, my question is is this posible or just an excuse to cheat?
Jim
I have never experienced a blackout; however, I have some questions. I just found out about an occasion where my husband was drinking with another woman at her home and they both admit to becoming very drunk. The difference in their stories is that he admits to making sexual advances toward her for about 5+ minutes and not being told that she wanted him to stop until the advances increased were heading toward intercourse. Her story is that she had been drinking so much that she doesn’t remember the advances until this point and that is when she told him no — that this was not going to happen. My question is: can a blackout work this way? Is it possible that she didn’t know about the advances until they increased? She says that she blacked out and then became aware that this was happening. I have no understanding of blacking out and need to know if this is possible. Please help me understand this.