Is it true that people reveal their true feelings when they're drunk?



The old Latin phrase '

In vino veritas' means that when people are drunk, they reveal their true feelings. Even today, the idea that 'a person's true feelings and true character will come out when they are drunk' is widely believed, but whether or not getting drunk really makes people reveal their true feelings is explained by science media Live Science.

Are people more honest when they're drunk? | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/health/alcohol/are-people-more-honest-when-they-re-drunk



Many people believe that getting drunk makes it easier to talk about their true feelings, and it is also common to think that 'the best place to talk is over drinks.' In fact, some people have probably had the experience of letting slip something they had been hiding in their mind while drinking at an izakaya or bar that they couldn't talk about at work or school.

'Alcohol makes people more likely to say whatever comes to mind, which may be true or may be something that the intoxicated person believes to be true,' says Aaron White , head of epidemiology and biometrics at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism .

It is true that people who drink alcohol and get drunk are more likely to say what they think. However, even if you feel that something is true when you are drunk, it may be ridiculous when you think about it when you are sober. For example, a drunk person may declare, 'I'm leaving this countryside for the city,' or 'I'm quitting this job tomorrow morning,' but most of the time they are just saying it on impulse.



Live Science couldn't find any direct studies on how alcohol affects conscientiousness, but there is a wealth of research looking at how alcohol affects a person's personality, emotions, and cognition.

A 2017

study in the journal Clinical Psychological Science reported that participants who reached a blood alcohol level of 0.09 percent -- just above the US drinking-driving limit -- became much more extroverted than they had been before they drank. While the study didn't examine whether drinking alcohol makes people more likely to speak their minds, it makes sense that being extroverted and feeling more comfortable in social situations would make people more outspoken.

So while alcohol may make people more sociable and outspoken, the problem is that it also affects how we feel and think. 'Generally, we know that when you drink alcohol, your emotions tend to become more intense,' says Michael Sayett , a professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh .

In other words, alcohol makes it easier to laugh when you're happy, cry when you're sad, or get angry when you're frustrated. These emotional swings may make it easier to tell the truth you would have in your heart if you were sober, but they also increase the risk of saying something you don't really mean or doing something you'll later regret. Sayet pointed out, 'Since alcohol changes how we think and feel, it's only natural that it changes our behavior. Alcohol can make us more extreme in our behavior.'

These effects are due to the fact that alcohol weakens the signals of the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which controls behavior and impulses, causing a state of disinhibition in which impulses and emotions are no longer suppressed.Alcohol also suppresses the activity of the amygdala, which causes fear and anxiety, increasing the risk of doing things when drunk that would be inhibited when sober.



After all, while you may be more likely to reveal your true feelings or secrets when you're drunk, you're also more likely to blurt out falsehoods that you'll regret the next morning. 'Alcohol is not a truth serum, that's for sure,' White sums up.

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