How does one suddenly become a bad drinker

[Ray Smith]

So here's the story. A friend of mine who's over the years always been a "good drinker"(meaning he was always happy when he drank and didn't cause trouble) suddenly seems to have become a bad one. Just today while drinking with him I had to physically separate him from his father after he had a fight with him and pulled out a knife. After that we went elsewhere and got in an argument with some pscyho who eventually came back with a friend and two baseball bats which he and his friend used on us(he got it worse than I did but we both went to the ER after calling the cops). This came a week after I intercepted a punch meant for him while trying to seperate him from two other guys in another fight. Suffice to say I'm now quite angry at him and reluctant to drink with him again. But how did that happen? I've been drinking with him for the last three years and he never once caused any real problems. He drinks about as much as he always has(not every day and not very much-he's really a bit of a lightweight, at least in our company) so I don't think that's the problem.The only reason I can think of is that we've been slamming drinks a bit more(usually a pint of beer-0,5l or the same amount of wine). But we've always done that so I again doubt that's the issue. Please give me some advice so I can enjoy drinking with him again

 

[tremours]

is your friend blacking out, does he remember these violent incidents? I think a lot of it is how his mindset is when going into blackout. I remember when i was younger i was find getting drunk, but as i got older, i've had people tell me i can be pretty bad drunk, not violent but much more likely to flip someone off or cuss them out. right now the only advice i can give is moderate, don't slam drinks and hopefully you'll have less problems

 

[Shady's Fox]

It's his behavior not the alcohol, it affects people as how they are sorta like that drunk father shit, learning to laugh it's a good option and only if he want he can do it differently.

regards,

Winter

 

[Iceman1216]

Alcoholism, Is A progressive disease, Very few people have a bad time with it right out of the Gate. " My drinking was really Fun: until it was NOT!!"
The old definition of Any Addiction ( and I am Old) is : If you stop doing it and your life gets better, you are addicted
Also I have seen the last few years an EXPLOSION of Cross addicted people come in to the rooms of NA/AA!!!
back in the day we had Alcoholics ( never did drugs : Funny to me Alcohol is a DRUG ) and Junkies ( never drank, did not want to fuck up the Clean high or DIE!!)

Now young people are just garbage cans, Pain meds, Benzos,some strong weed, and some Hard alcohol .....................and the stop Breathing!!! All the funerals I have bbe to of my peers children , under 30 in the last few years, they where all pretty corpse!!!

So maybe your friend is playing with Dry Goods as well as his Booze??
sound like it is a problem
All Is Well

 

[HoldBack]

I would guess your friend is experiencing some kind of personal problems that he is unwilling to share with you.

In my experience, alcohol varies in how it effects different people but the effect for a given person doesn?t change over time.

However, maybe it is what you are drinking or the speed at which you are drinking (or a bunch of other factors eg he lost weight, is taking medication, changed eating habits, etc) that are causing his BAC to rise faster than normal.

In my experience, the speed at which your bac rises is the greatest predictor of blackouts or uninhibited behavior. That is how quickly you drink is modestly more important than how much you drink.

Never been alcoholic myself so not sure how much my opinion helps.

 

[Ray Smith]

is your friend blacking out, does he remember these violent incidents? I think a lot of it is how his mindset is when going into blackout. I remember when i was younger i was find getting drunk, but as i got older, i've had people tell me i can be pretty bad drunk, not violent but much more likely to flip someone off or cuss them out. right now the only advice i can give is moderate, don't slam drinks and hopefully you'll have less problems

He does remember it...it's not really a blackout, ceirtanly not the kind I have where I can't remember most of what I did but I didn't really change my behaviour drastically during it...I've drank with plenty of guys who like to cause problems when they get drunk but as I've said he was never that kind of a drinker...I'm also pretty sure.nothing bad's happened to him(except for the usual daily setbacks) because he always tells me everything...but maybe as you said some people just get to that stage of their 'drinking careers'...hope he snaps out of it though...I'll do my best to keep investigating what's gotten into him..

 

[OpiateKiller]

I?m sorry to tell you this, but chances are he will never go back to a happy drunk. This was just like my uncle. I?m not saying every night he drank was bad or he caused trouble, but he was ENTIRELY unpredictable. One minute he?s laughing having a good time, the next minute he?s throwing a beer bottle at the guy down the bars head for looking at him.

Most likely he will never return and if he knows what?s best, he will sober up.

 

[Phobos]

Alcoholism, Is A progressive disease

Iceman got that right, I've seen the same happen to more than a few people, for some it progresses further as it changes their sober personalities as well, for the worse.

The only reason I can think of is that we've been slamming drinks a bit more(usually a pint of beer-0,5l or the same amount of wine). But we've always done that so I again doubt that's the issue. Please give me some advice so I can enjoy drinking with him again

However, maybe it is what you are drinking or the speed at which you are drinking (or a bunch of other factors eg he lost weight, is taking medication, changed eating habits, etc) that are causing his BAC to rise faster than normal.

In my experience, the speed at which your bac rises is the greatest predictor of blackouts or uninhibited behavior. That is how quickly you drink is modestly more important than how much you drink.

Yep, racing to the bottom of the drinks to get a stronger effect is the best way to experience all the worst aspects of alcohol to the fullest.

Look mate your friend is already involved you and maybe others in multiple unprovoked physical confrontations, if he can't face the reality of how unreasonable it is for him to keep doing this, I suggest you take your distance or at least remove your support. At least you can be sure you'll be alive and well to call the emergency services when needed.
Talk to him about this before you start hating him for it.

 

[falsifiedhypothesi]

You become a bad drinker by missing your mouth. Sorry that was bad, I know.

It sounds like your friend is maybe going through a rough time in his life and has a lot of built up anger that gets unleashed by the disinhibiting effects of alcohol. Either that or he's mixing something else with the alcohol that causes him to become angry.

 

[Phobos]

You become a bad drinker by missing your mouth. Sorry that was bad, I know.

It sounds like your friend is maybe going through a rough time in his life and has a lot of built up anger that gets unleashed by the disinhibiting effects of alcohol. Either that or he's mixing something else with the alcohol that causes him to become angry.

It is my personal experience that alcohol is the drug that cause people to get into fights the most.