As alcohol impacts a person's personality and mood, they may come off like “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” or go from one extreme to another. They may experience altered perceptions and intensified emotions, such as jealousy, anger, and depression.
Alcohol can cause damage to the brain, which could lead to personality changes or act as a trigger for other mental health issues like anxiety or depression. Alcohol also slows down messages from your brain to other body parts, leading to slower reflexes and impaired judgment and motor skills.
Studies show that there's actually a close relationship between feelings of out-of-control anger and aggression and alcohol use or abuse. The World Health Organization identifies alcohol more closely with aggressive behavior than any other psychotropic substance.
Alcohol-induced depressive disorder refers to a depressive-like syndrome (characterized by depressed mood or anhedonia) that occurs only during and shortly after alcohol intoxication or withdrawal, remits after 3 to 4 weeks of alcohol abstinence, and is associated with significant distress and impairment.
Other long-term consequences of alcohol abuse include social problems, issues with learning and memory, and mental health issues like depression and anxiety. Overall, alcohol has a negative effect on mental and emotional health, even if it temporarily numbs emotions or creates feelings of euphoria.
The chemical changes in your brain can soon lead to more negative feelings, such as anger, depression or anxiety, regardless of your mood. Alcohol also slows down how your brain processes information, making it harder to work out what you're really feeling and the possible consequences of your actions.
Popular wisdom holds that our true desires and feelings tend to come to light while we're drunk. Although drinking alcohol can definitely lower your inhibitions, there's no evidence to suggest that alcohol necessarily unlocks any deep-seated feelings or desires. Still, alcohol can change who we are, in some ways.
Alcohol can depress or stimulate different parts of the brain. For example, when alcohol inhibits the activity of the frontal lobe–which is responsible for judgment, decision-making, and moderating social behavior–a person may become more aggressive or emotional than they would be sober.
However, these alcohol–induced manic symptoms generally occur only during active alcohol intoxication, which makes them fairly easy to differentiate from mania associated with bipolar I disorder. Still, alcoholic patients going through alcohol withdrawal may appear to have depression.
The best thing you can do if your wife is an angry drinker is to encourage her to get her help. It's not going to be productive to talk to her when she is intoxicated. When your wife has sobered up, you can discuss how her behavior is affecting you. She might not realize she is an angry drinker.
You'll likely begin to feel better between five to seven days after you stop drinking, though some symptoms—like changes in sleep patterns, fatigue, and mood swings—can last for weeks or months.
Additional Alcoholic Personality Traits
Often someone who is abusing alcohol will also display the following signs and become: Insecure. Sensitive. Impulsive.
Other Common Alcoholic Personality Traits
Those with alcoholism may behave in sneaky, deceptive, manipulative, or secretive ways, typically in an attempt to hide their problematic drinking. Others will be irritable, anxious, and aggressive both when they drink and when they go through alcohol withdrawal.
Over time, excessive alcohol use can lead to the development of chronic diseases and other serious problems including: High blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and digestive problems.
Does Alcohol Use Trigger Bipolar Disorder? There is currently no evidence that alcohol use actually causes bipolar disorder. However, a 1998 study found that alcohol can have the same effects on the brain that bipolar disorder does, prompting manic and depressive symptoms.
It is also possible that alcohol use is a contributing factor for episodes of mania or depression. If you are already at risk for bipolar disorder—for instance, if you have a family history—excessive drinking may trigger symptoms or make symptoms and moods more severe.
Individuals with alcohol use disorder appear to show deficits in empathy compared with healthy controls. Deficits are particularly pronounced for older individuals and for cognitive (versus affective) empathy.
Alcohol can make some people more emotional than usual, causing them to cry more easily. However, for some, alcohol can cause anger and aggression, which can become a real problem.
In 1980, the third edition of the Manual, DSM-3, identified alcoholism as a subset of a mental health disorder. The current edition, DSM-5, classifies alcoholism, now referred to as Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) or Substance Use Disorder (SUD), as a mental disorder presenting both physical and mental symptoms.
Booze is a depressant. It provides a brief, artificial high, followed by a long, crushing low: a hollow, empty feeling which makes you crave more of the drug in order to end the misery. Whilst it sounds convenient to be able to open a bottle and suddenly feel better, we have to remember that 'happy' feeling is false.
They know what they're doing -- alcohol just makes them care less about the consequences. Via Healthzone: A new study says that people who commit blunders while under the influence of alcohol know they're doing it; they just don't care.
Lowered Inhibitions
Alcohol can lower inhibitions, causing individuals to say things they usually keep to themselves. This can include hurtful comments about others' appearance, behaviors, or personal issues.