Alcohol Blackout

Jake and his friends were in the middle of a rocking party with loads of drinks, good looking girls to check out and fantastic music. As the party progressed, they had a drink too many. Jake, especially went totally haywire, went totally blank and then passed out because of all the alcohol he had. The next morning, he was groggy, had a major hangover and could not remember what passed (apart from him!) the night before.

The high might impart a marked 'feel good' feeling. But beware, ladies and gentlemen, about getting more than tipsy and passing out. Yes, if you have not guessed already, Jake's was a case of alcohol black out. Simply put, in the case of such a black out, the person is not able to remember what happened when he or she was in that inebriated state of hangover. The text to come will elucidate more on this topic.

Definition

In medical and scientific terms, such a blackout refers to impairment of long term memory creation or in a few cases total inability to recollect the past. Needless to say, it is the result of alcohol intake. But all said and done, such a blackout should not be mistaken for passing out. Passing out merely refers to losing consciousness. In short, it means a memory loss on account of excessive alcohol intake.

Related Facts

Amongst the facts related to memory loss induced by alcohol, there are types and causes. There are two types of blackouts namely,

En Bloc: In this, the person cannot remember a single thing which happened in the period when he or she was intoxicated. Even reminding, prompting or prodding the memory of that individual does not help. In this case a person's ability of transferring and imprinting memory from the short term and present to long term storage gets blocked.

Fragmentary: In this case, there is some recollection by the individual of things which happened when in an intoxicated state. You could forget what were you talking about in the middle of a conversation. Such black outs disturb the memory formation partially during the 'drunk' period. There are chances that the individual can recall of what passed if prompted or reminded.

Possible Causes

What kind of a blackout will occur depends upon the intake of alcohol. Researches in the concerned area have apparently put forth that it is a result of a rapid rise in a person's blood-alcohol content or concentration. Rapid consumption was a cause of subjects experiencing blackout, rather than those who had it slowly. Those who had it slowly were totally inebriated, to say the least, but did not have a memory loss. Alcohol abuse is the main cause of a black out. There are other factors too, like age and sex. It seems so that men and women metabolize alcohol differently and that is the cause why women are more vulnerable to memory impairment than men.

Alcohol Blackout Brain Damage

Too much consumption over a long period of time and brain damage go hand in hand. Memory loss, slurred speech, blurred vision, problem in walking, slowed reaction times - all are a manifestation of the effects of alcohol on the brain. Some of these things can be repaired with treatment but regular consumption of heavy amount of alcohol has the potential to cause irreparable damage to the brain. Of course, there are other factors as mentioned earlier like age, sex, time since the person started drinking, overall health, heredity and so on. These play a crucial role in determining the symptoms. All said and done, how exactly does alcohol affect the brain and bring about a blackout has to be researched further.

In the end, personally I believe this condition should be avoided to prevent further health and brain related complications. After all, the high is to make you feel good, and not to put you in a miserable state, right? This is where I sign off! Avoid alcoholism and take care!