Someone might enjoy feeling drunk at first, but at a certain point, that feeling loses it’s appeal. It represents feelings of failure, of pain, and procrastination of doing what you know needs to be done and looking for help to stop drinking.
On the macro level, alcoholism is something that some people can manage to control to some degree, but often it can spiral out of control. If you ever feel like you’re hanging on my a thread, that’s when you need to seek help. If you feel like you have a firm grip and control on your drinking, that’s an even better time to start cutting back. If you feel like you have the potential for your drinking to get out of hand, that’s when it’s time to cut back.
On the micro level, though, it’s really a day-to-day struggle for a lot of people who are having trouble keeping their drinking habits in check.
We can talk about the benefits of quitting drinking, going cold turkey or cutting back gradually, and all the other factors of stopping alcohol in a big-picture sense, but let’s look at a specific drinking session.
How Long Does Being Drunk Last For?
Being drunk lasts for about six hours but it depends on a few factors.
How long being drunk lasts for depends on how much you’ve had to drink, and your tolerance levels for alcohol.
A rough rule of thumb is that one drink = 1 hour for it to wear off. If you have 4-5 drinks, then you can expect to be drunk for the next few hours. This isn’t an exact science, it really depends on your body, how fast you drink, your tolerance levels, and more.
There are some people who wake up, start drinking, and ride the buzz throughout the entire day. They never want to go too long without drinking because the withdrawals are really tough. For these people, their bodies are so used to alcohol and being drunk that they’re kinda of just always drunk, so they never really stop. Being drunk lasts until they seek medical intervention to help them stop drinking.
But if we’re talking about a typical person who isn’t a heavy drinker, or somebody who is trying alcohol for the very first time – and if that person is drunker than they want to be, the best thing is to get home safely. Once home, drink some water, find a way to distract yourself, and the alcohol will start to wear off. Laying down to get some sleep can be good, too, but if they’re getting sick, it’s better to wait for them to stop throwing up or to make sure that they don’t fall asleep on their back because it can be dangerous for a drnk person to throw up in their sleep and to have it get caught in their throat, depending on how they’re sleeping.
Other than that, drink water, get some sleep, and think about why/how you got so drunk. Is that something you want to avoid next time?
Do you have trouble stopping yourself from drinking when you’re out having a few drinks?
Do the drinks just keep flowing and you feel like you lose control?
If you’re aware of this, it’s a good time to start thinking about talking to somebody and looking at some options to help you stop drinking – or just take the steps yourself, but it’s easier with a helping hand and services to help you stop drinking and often covered by various types of insurance that you might already have.
Give the number at the top of this page a call if you want to learn more about stopping drinking for yourself, or for somebody you care about.
