SCHOLARFOX
  • Blog
  • FOCUS
  • EDITOR
Clever as a Fox, 
Write for the World 

The 4 Kinds of Drunks

6/24/2018

 
PicturePhoto by jarmoluk (via Pixabay.com)
The 4 Kinds of Drunks
By Heath Shive

Ian Fleming wrote a short story collection of James Bond adventures entitled Octopussy and the Living Daylights. According to one line from the book, there are 4 kinds of drunks:

  1. Sanguine: the happy and social drunk
  2. Phlegmatic: the sad and pitiful drunk
  3. Melancholic: the pensive and brooding drunk
  4. Choleric: the angry or violent drunk

You can be any one style of drunk.  Or you can be a different drunk at different times.

But why?

To the science!

This Is Your Brain on Booze
​
Alcohol is absorbed into your bloodstream.  Eventually the alcohol will reach your brain, where it gets absorbed by your cerebral cortex – the outer layer of the brain that processes sensory data, motor functions, and your perceptual experience of the world.

This is where the trouble begins.  Since alcohol is a depressant, it impairs the synaptic functions between the nerves in your brain.   

If you keep drinking, the alcohol begins to work through the cerebral cortex and into your limbic system. 

The limbic system of your brain is where all your emotions are!  

In the limbic system, the alcohol starts impairing the synapses – which in turn makes it harder for you to process and control your emotions!

As Kevin Kampwirth writes in his Mental Floss article: “The limbic system, which would typically keep our emotions in check, now subjects us to mood swings and exaggerated states.” 

According to Fleming, these “exaggerated states” are classified as sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic, or choleric.

But they all end in hangovers.

LIKE SCHOLARFOX ON FACEBOOK!



Comments are closed.

    Author

    Hello!  My name is Heath Shive, content manager at ScholarFox.  I'll be the author of most of the blog posts.   I'm a former geologist and currently a freelance writer.  The world is complex and seemingly crazy.  Good!  Because when you love to learn, you'll never be bored.

    Archives

    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017

    Categories

    All
    Earth Science/Fossils
    Gems/Geology
    History/Culture
    Math
    Modern Living
    PersonalFinance
    Psych/Soc
    Romance
    The Universe/Physics
    Weddings

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Blog
  • FOCUS
  • EDITOR