Myth: The best thing for a drunk friend is to let them sleep it off.
Posted Oct 07 2010 3:20pm
by Lisa Frederiksen
REALTY: Alcohol is a depressant that works on the central nervous system. It slows down the heart rate, lowers the blood pressure and slows a person’s breathing rate. If a friend passes out, s/he has consumed an amount of alcohol that puts him/her dangerously close to the amount of alcohol that can kill a person. Additionally, turning a friend on their side so they won’t choke on their vomit is important, but it CANNOT halt the depressant action that’s at work on the central nervous system. Not only that, but your friend’s BAC will continue to rise after drinking is stopped, i.e., after s/he has passed out.
And while we’re on the subject of friends… a person’s drinking behaviors cause secondhand drinking (SHD) impacts for his/her friends AND family members. Friends and family members are the ones who have to try keep you safe, watch after you if you pass out, clean up after you if you puke in their car, get over their feelings being hurt by the mean things you’d said last night, live with the constant fighting about the drinking behaviors and/or recover from the consequences of unwanted or unprotected sex. Secondhand drinking can be just as destructive as alcohol misuse, and like alcohol misuse, it’s entirely preventable.
So, be safe. Protect your brain. Learn the science behind the seven myths about drinking alcohol that can kill. And then join us at BreakingTheCycles.com in changing the conversations – talk about it.
by Lisa Frederiksen
REALTY: Alcohol is a depressant that works on the central nervous system. It slows down the heart rate, lowers the blood pressure and slows a person’s breathing rate. If a friend passes out, s/he has consumed an amount of alcohol that puts him/her dangerously close to the amount of alcohol that can kill a person. Additionally, turning a friend on their side so they won’t choke on their vomit is important, but it CANNOT halt the depressant action that’s at work on the central nervous system. Not only that, but your friend’s BAC will continue to rise after drinking is stopped, i.e., after s/he has passed out.
And while we’re on the subject of friends… a person’s drinking behaviors cause secondhand drinking (SHD) impacts for his/her friends AND family members. Friends and family members are the ones who have to try keep you safe, watch after you if you pass out, clean up after you if you puke in their car, get over their feelings being hurt by the mean things you’d said last night, live with the constant fighting about the drinking behaviors and/or recover from the consequences of unwanted or unprotected sex. Secondhand drinking can be just as destructive as alcohol misuse, and like alcohol misuse, it’s entirely preventable.
So, be safe. Protect your brain. Learn the science behind the seven myths about drinking alcohol that can kill. And then join us at BreakingTheCycles.com in changing the conversations – talk about it.