This Is How Alcohol Can Change You

People love drinking. Or more clearly, people love being drunk. Alcohol enables you to feel happier and looser, like you can walk on water. The main reason people enjoy a drunken state of mind is because of the way they can release their inhibitions and become someone radically different than who they are. Some say you become your authentic self when you’re under the influence, but this is definitely not true.

You’re not who you are when you lose control.

You didn’t drunk text your asshole ex boyfriend because you miss him; you did it because you were drunk and vulnerable. You didn’t accept a ride from three random men because you like meeting new people; you did it because you were too intoxicated to realize how potentially dangerous it could be. And no, you didn’t drunk cry because you really think you’re unattractive and forever alone— it was the alcohol talking. Sure, alcohol may grant you the courage to be friendlier and more outgoing, but it also conjures feelings of sadness and insecurity that you don’t feel sober.

Being drunk may be fun in the moment, but how will you know you really had fun if you can’t remember the events that transpired the prior night? Nothing is worse than hearing from your friends how entertaining it was to watch you bitch out some guy at a bar or to read through your incoherent drunk texts the following morning. It’s a scary feeling to wake up with zero recollection of how you got home, or even worse, how you ended up at the unfamiliar place you seemed to have slept at.

I admit it— being drunk is fun. It’s fun to dance the night away under neon lights and music so loud you can’t hear yourself think. And at times, it feels like an escape to be someone new. But if you rely on alcohol to break you out of your shell or remove you from your problems, you’ll only become increasingly insecure about your genuine self. There’s nothing wrong with the occasional drink or two, but realize when you’re reaching your limit.

Create memories that you’ll be able to reminisce on years later. You’ll smile when think back to you laughing, surrounded by your best friends, just being yourselves. That’s who you really are.