Why Do I Blackout After Drinking?

You wake up on a Sunday morning, your head is hurting from drinking too much alcohol and again, you can’t remember what happened the night before. Does this sound like a regular occurrence to you? Blacking out after drinking alcohol is a major sign of excessive alcohol consumption and can be dangerous for both your body and your mind, causing serious long-term effects for your overall health and wellbeing.

What is the definition of a Blackout?

The phrase ‘blackout’ is used to refer to a temporary loss of memory, where an individual is unable to remember what happened over a period of time. It is usually mentioned when referring to alcohol activities and is caused as a result of over alcohol consumption.

How Long Does a Blackout Last?

The duration of alcohol blackouts can vary, depending on the individual and the amount of alcohol that they consumed. It can last from hours up to days, but this can depend on a number of factors affecting the duration.

What are the Causes of Blackouts?

It’s no secret that the one main cause of alcohol blackouts is…alcohol consumption, however there are other factors that can affect blackouts from occurring and the intensity or duration of the alcohol blackouts.

When a person drinks a certain amount of alcohol, the body is unable to store memories in the brain so the more a person drinks, then the longer their alcohol blackout is likely to last.

It’s common for individuals suffering with an alcohol addiction to experience blackouts and prolonged periods of memory loss due to the regular misuse of alcohol.

Factors affecting the cause of blackouts

Alcohol affects everyone differently, as we are all wired differently and have different tolerances to alcohol. Factors that can change the effects of alcohol are:

The amount of alcohol consumed
The weight of the individual
The individual’s physiology
How much the person has eaten that day

The Link Between Alcohol Addiction and Blackouts

It’s common for individuals suffering with an alcohol addiction to experience blackouts and prolonged periods of memory loss due to over consumption.

How to Prevent Blackouts from Happening

There are preventions that you can put in place to stop blackouts from occurring and putting yourself at risk of causing harm to your body. This includes:

Monitoring how much alcohol you drink
Eating a large meal before drinking
Drinking water between alcoholic drinks
Have a night off and give your body a rest from alcohol!

What are the Health Impacts of Blackouts?

Over consuming alcohol and causing temporary mental blackouts can impact an individual, causing effects on both their body and their mind including:

Vomiting
Dry mouth
Diarrhoea
Headaches
Delayed reactions
Slurred speech

If experiencing regular blackouts, then there can be detrimental long-term effects. Alcohol misuse over months and years can cause damage to the frontal lobe of the brain, causing long term memory loss, and altering their ability to perform activities and decision making.