Can alcohol change your personality
Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Lubbock, TX
Posts: 2
When I made the decision to quit drinking I told my mom before anyone. She told me "good. I can tell a difference in you when you don't drink for a while. You're happier and less pessimistic about the world. I can't even see it in your facebook posts." It was in that moment I knew I was making the right choice in quitting. I wanted to be the best version of myself.
Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Dallas, Texas
Posts: 2,459
My brother has been an alcoholic for 35 years and he has completely changed. He used to be rather charming and lots of fun. Now he is sullen, angry and unpredictable. So very sad to see. I miss the "real" brother. Not this caricature.
Trudgin
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 6,348
Simply, when I drank daily my values and beliefs did not mimic my actions and behaviors. Slowly in sobriety I am able to change. It is not easy for me.
Of course the drunk whirlwind is quelled, but my behavior still has many peaks and valleys. It ain't all a Ray - a drop of golden sun - as the song goes.
But, given the alternative I am compelled to not drink again - today!
Of course the drunk whirlwind is quelled, but my behavior still has many peaks and valleys. It ain't all a Ray - a drop of golden sun - as the song goes.
But, given the alternative I am compelled to not drink again - today!
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Sheffield, England
Posts: 317
Originally Posted by tomsteve 
I think a better question that YOU should answer:
Does it turn YOU into something you're not?
Does it turn YOU into something you're not?
*Tears in my eyes*
Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 1,183
Sure changed mine, just ask my wife, friends and co-workers. 
We don't notice it so much when we're pickled, but to some extent we do notice - which breeds shame, which we run from with more drinking, and the spiral tightens up a bit more.
We don't notice it so much when we're pickled, but to some extent we do notice - which breeds shame, which we run from with more drinking, and the spiral tightens up a bit more.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 10,912
I don't believe that alcohol turns us into a different person, but it can change the balance of our mental and behavioral tendencies drastically and often brings out and expands our character flaws, insecurities, and maladaptive responses. It's no surprise, given how much chronic drinking alters the functioning of our brains and whole body. I personally don't like dissociating who we are and what we do under the influence from the rest of our being because it shifts responsibility and can trigger further denial. I don't like black and white thinking for the same reason and for its being usually a simplification. For me, I must acknowledge that the person who did the all those ugly things as an active alcoholic was me and the sober person is also me. I think the best we can do is work on ourselves and our behavior in sobriety so that the past remains a past.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 3,195
I was always a happy, cheerful drunk up until my late 20's. At this time, I began drinking vodka daily and my tolerance began to greatly increase. I needed more and more alcohol to get that buzz and I was drinking myself into blackouts/stupor. I would become obnoxious and sometimes aggressive. I argued and fought over trivial things. Sometimes I would explode in anger for no reason. I hated who I became because it was so unlike my sober self.
If I wasn't drinking I was anxious and miserable. Alcohol broke me emotionally and I was a shell of my former self. So, yes, abusing alcohol certainly can change you. however, it's not permanent. Sobriety can bring you back to your normal self.
If I wasn't drinking I was anxious and miserable. Alcohol broke me emotionally and I was a shell of my former self. So, yes, abusing alcohol certainly can change you. however, it's not permanent. Sobriety can bring you back to your normal self.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: northern michigan. not the U.P.
Posts: 15,281
Originally Posted by Bh28
Yes it does, but I'm not that person. I'm a really nice lad when I don't drink. Honestly.
*Tears in my eyes*
*Tears in my eyes*
That turned into," when you're drinking you're nothing but evil and it's happening a lot when you're not drinking."
Great thing that happened is I stopped drinking and started working on fixing me and that man hasn't been around in a very long time.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 6,262
I don't think normal drinkers have personality changes but when I was active my thinking was certainly distorted. To obsessively imbibe something that makes me vomit, black out and get very very cranky is not a rational thing to do.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 68
Originally Posted by GracieLou
It was not that alcohol changed my personality, I am who I am and I didn't know who that was for a long time because alcohol changed my perception of life and the people in it.
I did not view it as a healthy adult woman would.
I viewed life as a burden, not something to he grateful for nor cherished. I drank to escape that feeling but I never understood that view came from self and my own distorted feelings. I didn't know they were distorted so I felt I was acting accordingly.
It was not until I stopped drinking and remained sober that I could start to see that life and the people were not wrong. It was the way I viewed them, felt about them, interacted with them that was the problem.
After I was sober awhile I could see and remember how I felt as a child. The carefree feeling and the things I enjoyed. I had forgotten them, they were me and my personality.
I don't think it changes the personality as much as you lose it. I became a false image. Many if not all the things I did and said while drunk or drinking I would never do or say sober.
For many, finding ourselves after sobriety is the hardest part of it. When you are lost and don't really know yourself or who you are is a tough feeling. I think that is why many think if you remove the drink the person is going to be suddenly wonderful and all past behaviors are going to fall away but that is not always the case. If someone has acted or reacted a certain way for much of their life, removing the just the drink is not going to cause the person to suddenly know how to behave as a mature adult. They are not capable of that yet.
It takes time and recovery and the person has to be willing to see and learn a new way of living. It is not a perfect way and it may not always be the right way but if they keep trying and learning it will be better then the one they had before if their perception has changed.
I did not view it as a healthy adult woman would.
I viewed life as a burden, not something to he grateful for nor cherished. I drank to escape that feeling but I never understood that view came from self and my own distorted feelings. I didn't know they were distorted so I felt I was acting accordingly.
It was not until I stopped drinking and remained sober that I could start to see that life and the people were not wrong. It was the way I viewed them, felt about them, interacted with them that was the problem.
After I was sober awhile I could see and remember how I felt as a child. The carefree feeling and the things I enjoyed. I had forgotten them, they were me and my personality.
I don't think it changes the personality as much as you lose it. I became a false image. Many if not all the things I did and said while drunk or drinking I would never do or say sober.
For many, finding ourselves after sobriety is the hardest part of it. When you are lost and don't really know yourself or who you are is a tough feeling. I think that is why many think if you remove the drink the person is going to be suddenly wonderful and all past behaviors are going to fall away but that is not always the case. If someone has acted or reacted a certain way for much of their life, removing the just the drink is not going to cause the person to suddenly know how to behave as a mature adult. They are not capable of that yet.
It takes time and recovery and the person has to be willing to see and learn a new way of living. It is not a perfect way and it may not always be the right way but if they keep trying and learning it will be better then the one they had before if their perception has changed.
This post is incredible I can really relate as I am 23 and ive just beat an eating disorder and now I am now fighting for sobriety.
I understand what you mean by 'It was not that alcohol changed my personality, I am who I am and I didn't know who that was for a long time because alcohol changed my perception of life and the people in it.
I did not view it as a healthy adult woman would. ' - I feel like I am a child again learning who I am and how to act without the 'crutch' of alcohol. I actually hate drinking now and the person I become when I do drink so now I am choosing to stop all together I know its going to be a long journey and I do feel lost at the moment because there isant a lot of people in my life I can talk to that would relate to what Im feeling.
MJ X.X
L'il fighter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Posts: 297
While drunk I definitely acted in ways I wouldn't dream of while sober. But it was definitely an aspect of ME - just a very dark, out of control me.
Drinking warped, distorted, repressed, and altered my thinking patterns for many years. I guess you could say it changed my personality, but it had been that way for years. It may be more accurate to say that SOBRIETY is changing my personality for the better.
Drinking warped, distorted, repressed, and altered my thinking patterns for many years. I guess you could say it changed my personality, but it had been that way for years. It may be more accurate to say that SOBRIETY is changing my personality for the better.
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