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Delusions of Sobriety - Discussion and Theories

Phenpsycho

Bluelighter
Joined
Nov 28, 2015
Messages
122
Hello, Bluelight!

I'm quite curious about what you fellow members may have to say about the phenomenon whereby one partakes in a drug which causes outward intoxication while mentally the intoxication is less than apparent while under the influence of said drug. Benzodiazepines are the most common class of drug known to cause this effect but other substances can also cause this effect such as alcohol, arylcyclohexylamines and possibly even stimulants.

I would be interested to know whether any research has been conducted to determine if there's a specific mechanism that causes this psychological phenomenon to manifest.

It's a very bizarre experience to have taken a sizable enough quantity of a drug to ascertain a feeling of intoxication but then to seemingly respond to the chemical as if it has done nothing to tinkle with your mental faculties. Benzodiazepines have on more than one occasion made me feel after I had taken them that I was stone cold sober and only hours later was it apparent to me that I was extremely intoxicated while psychologically I was convinced nothing was amiss because during the intoxication everything seemed normal and humdrum.

Growing wise to this phenomenon I can now notice it when it occurs and rationalize to myself that i'm intoxicated by bringing to mind my tolerance at the time of ingestion of said substance, the amount consumed and how my motor functions might be effected, but it still doesn't propel me mentally into an intoxicated mind space even when physiologically all the requirements have been met.

You hear jokes about people smoking themselves straight or drinking themselves sober based on this common psychological occurrence that many people have experienced before but it's a mystery as to what brings it on, or is it? If anyone has any scientific studies detailing how our minds can trick us into thinking we are sober when in fact we are high as a kite, please post the studies here in this thread!

I don't see this topic discussed very often so it's my hope that this thread will breed some interesting conjecture and hopefully garner more of an interest in this area of study.
 
I'm also curious as to how exactly this happens, but more importantly, how to prevent it. It's for this reason I can't take benzodiazepines - I just "feel" sober and end up taking heaps more than I should, and that never ends well.

Interesting that you mention arylcyclohexylamines. I don't think I've ever had the sobriety delusion, perhaps even the opposite, which is also present with psychedelics wherein I over-analyze my state and conclude I must be pretty fucked up when that is not necessarily the case.

I guess a half-assed conjecture could be that drugs that suppress or otherwise lower inhibitions in some way (and perhaps anxiety, too), don't necessarily make the person "believe" they are sober, but rather have them not care or not worry about it enough. That's the way it works for me with benzos at least.
 
I've noticed phenibut is especially bad for this (in my experience).
feeling pretty damn normal, but having friends ask me "what the hell are you on?"

perhaps a GABA related thing?
it's the common denominator between benzos, booze and phenibut
 
So I have no idea about this on a neuro level, but some parts of psychology might be useful ways to frame it...

It seems like (benzos, alcohol, phenibut) all might have relevant impacts on executive functions ("Executive functions include basic cognitive processes such as attentional control, cognitive inhibition, inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility...") as well as more basic cognitive functions like working memory.

The descriptions of perceived sobriety sound quite a bit like a substance induced Dunning-Kruger effect when it comes to assessing intoxication ("a cognitive bias wherein people of low ability suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing their cognitive ability as greater than it is. The cognitive bias of illusory superiority derives from the metacognitive inability of low-ability persons to recognize their own ineptitude. Without the self-awareness of metacognition, low-ability people cannot objectively evaluate their actual competence or incompetence").

Also, if we cant rely consistently on our working memory we are more likely to confabulate ("a disturbance of memory, defined as the production of fabricated, distorted, or misinterpreted memories about oneself or the world, without the conscious intention to deceive") and I can't imagine that helps any with metacognitive self-awareness.

And I'm sure the Default Mode Network is involved somehow... I mean, loads of things change DMN activity but psychedelics have a rather a distinct impact and were mentioned as having a very different impact on perceived sobriety. I mostly mention this one because its just cool as hell.

Growing wise to this phenomenon I can now notice it when it occurs and rationalize to myself that i'm intoxicated by bringing to mind my tolerance at the time of ingestion of said substance, the amount consumed and how my motor functions might be effected, but it still doesn't propel me mentally into an intoxicated mind space even when physiologically all the requirements have been met.

^ using longer term factual memory to try and 'reason' with yourself seems like an effective way to accommodate for lost executive function, short term memory and self-awareness... but I think YMMV depending on just how compromised your self-regulatory executive functions are lol
 
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