Myths About Alcohol

MYTH:           I drive better after a few drinks.

FACT:                        Alcohol does not normally increase physical or mental

                        skills.  What it may do is increase confidences and

                        decrease judgment and self-criticism.  The drinker may

                        feel performance has improved when in reality it may

                        have declined.  At least half of fatal highway accidents

                        involve drinking.

MYTH:           Most alcoholics are middle-aged or younger.

FACT:            A University of California research team has found that the highest proportion of drinking problems is among men in their

                        early twenties.  The second highest incidence occurs among men in their early twenties.  The second highest incidence occurs among men in their 40s and 50s.

MYTH:           The best cure for a hangover is…

FACT:            Everybody has a favorite, but they all have one thing in common:  They didn’t work!  What works?  Preventative medicines.  If you don’t drink too much, you won’t get a

                        hangover.

MYTH:           People are friendlier when they are buzzed.

FACT:            Maybe.  But they’re also more hostile, more dangerous, more criminal, more homicidal, and more suicidal.  Half of all murders and one-third of all suicides are alcohol related.

MYTH:           Black coffee and cold showers will sober you up.

FACT:            Alleged methods for sobering up range from hot coffee to cold showers, from fresh air to food.  The only effect any of these treatments can have is to produce a wide-awake drunk.  An awakened drunk, feeling sobered up, may attempts tasks, such as driving.  Time is the only method of sobering up.  There is no way to increase the oxidation rate- the rate at which the body eliminates alcohol.