This article is part of The Belief Bucket series, where we examine ten common beliefs about alcohol.
- Introduction: What is the Belief Bucket?
- Belief #1 – Relaxation (Alcohol helps me relax)
- Belief #2 – Happiness (Alcohol makes me happy)
- Belief #3 – Reward (Alcohol is my reward)
- Belief #4 – The Rosy Effect (Remembering only the good times)
- Belief #5 – Taste (Alcohol tastes amazing)
- Belief #6 – Social Ally (Alcohol helps me socially)
- Belief #7 – Sleep (Alcohol helps me sleep)
- Belief #8 – Moderate Drinking (Our obsession)
- Belief #9 – Boredom (Alcohol solves boredom)
- Belief #10 – The Buzz (Alcohol feels amazing) ← you’re here
The buzz was real.
A lot of us drank for that warm feeling when the first few drinks kicked in. Our body loosened up, our thoughts slowed down and the evening suddenly felt easier.
So I’m not going to pretend it never felt good.
But how long did that feeling really last? And how much did we have to drink to reach it, keep it going and deal with what came afterwards?
We tend to remember the early part of the night. We don’t always include the next drinks, the point where we felt heavy or messy, the poor sleep or the way we felt the next morning.
When we leave all of that out, the buzz can look much better than it was.
The part we remember
And the first change could happen quickly.
Maybe we had been tense all day and then felt our shoulders drop. We could be bored, restless or stuck in our own head, and after a couple of drinks everything seemed more interesting.
So of course we noticed it. And because it happened soon after drinking, alcohol got all the credit.
The thing is, the buzz wasn’t the whole night, and it often didn’t last very long. We might have spent hours drinking for a feeling that only lasted a little while.
What usually happened next
Once the buzz started to fade, we rarely thought, “That was nice. I’ll stop there.”
We usually poured the next one before the buzz disappeared.
Then another one might follow because the last drink didn’t bring back quite the same feeling. After a while, we could be drinking more just trying to get back to the feeling we had near the start.
And if our tolerance had increased, it could take even more alcohol to get there. And even then, the feeling didn’t last.
The early lift could turn into feeling dull, tired, irritable or not quite right. We might repeat ourselves, lose track of the conversation or drink well past the point we had planned.
Other times, we kept drinking because stopping halfway through the night felt uncomfortable.
But that isn’t normally the version we remember. We remember the buzz and leave out what happened after it.
The buzz became something we had to manage
If the buzz was as amazing as we remembered, it’s worth asking why it needed so much work.
We had to get the amount right. Drink too slowly and we didn’t feel enough. Drink too quickly and we went past the good part. Stop too early and we felt the effects wearing off.
So we watched the bottle, planned the next drink and tried to keep the feeling at the right level. And many of us did all of that without realising how much we were thinking about alcohol.
And as our drinking got heavier, the reason for the next drink could change. We weren’t always drinking to feel good. Sometimes the goal was just to stop the buzz from fading.
Later on, we could be drinking just to feel more normal or to take the edge off the way we felt when alcohol was wearing off.
Was alcohol doing all of it?
Think about some of the times when the buzz seemed best. Maybe we had finished work, met people we liked, put music on or finally had permission to stop doing things for everyone else. Those things were already helping us feel good.
Because alcohol was there at the same time, we could easily decide the whole change came from the drink.
That doesn’t mean alcohol had no effect. Of course it did. But we were also relieved the day was over, looking forward to the night and spending time with other people. The alcohol got mixed in with all of that.
Later, we might remember the best few minutes and forget the rest.
Why life without the buzz can feel flat at first
When we’re used to alcohol changing how we feel quickly, ordinary things can seem a bit slow at first.
Dinner, a conversation or a quiet evening doesn’t change how we feel in a few minutes. So at first, those things might seem a bit plain.
This is one reason life can feel dull after quitting. Feeling flat at first doesn’t tell us what sober life will be like. Our brain and our routines may need time to get used to a different pace.
And when we feel flat, the old buzz can look better than it really was. So when our mind shows us only the first part, it helps to bring the rest of the night back in.
Look at the whole night
We don’t need to argue that the buzz felt terrible. For many of us, it didn’t.
We just need to stop judging it on the first few minutes.
How long did the good part last? How much did we drink trying to hold onto it? What did the rest of the night look like? And what was the next day like?
When we answer those questions honestly, the buzz starts to look less impressive. The good part could be brief. We might spend hours chasing it, then deal with the consequences for much longer.
That’s the version we need to remember.
— Brent
Finish the series with the Belief Bucket Recap →