Truth about blackout drinking: there is NO WAY to tell if someone is blacked out...

[CapnSteve]

I lived with a blackout drunk for many years - alcohol induced amnesia (blackout drinking) happens when alcohol disconnects the link between short-term and long-term memory. The person in blackout is completely lucid, can drive a car, hold conversations, have sex, etc. However, 10 to 30 minutes later he/she will have no memory of what they did.

So, the only one who knows if Kavanaugh is a blackout drinker is Kavanaugh. The only true answer that he can give on the subject, given his documented abuse of alcohol, is "I don't know if I have ever blacked out."

Kavanaugh is responsible for his actions even if he does not remember them. Blackout drunks are completely functional and lucid during their "disconnected" time.

[CapnSteve]

1. ...although I think that Kavanaugh is not a blackout drunk - he remembers every attempted rape,

...and sexual assault with a deep nostalgia.

[blue cat]

26. That's why he faked cried over calendar.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

2. The person isn't sleeping; they just don't have any recollection of events afterwards.

I can probably say I've only had one, maybe two, instances where I blacked out in my life.

I remember in college after one night of downing multiple screwdrivers, I was told that I attempted to drink water straight from a vase of flowers.

I had zero recollection of ever doing this. I didn't doubt that it happened though.

I have to say, it did freak me out after hearing this. It was profoundly unsettling.

[CapnSteve]

5. Happened to me once on a company event 25 years ago...

Thank God I didn't do anything stupid; friends related to me. It was absolutely terrifying. Hasn't happened since.

[George II]

17. I remember in college I visited a friend in DC, got drunk at a smoker at her college....

....and drove back to where I was staying (safely). The next day when I went back up to the college, I drove through Rock Creek Park and thought to myself "I don't remember seeing this last night!"

Thankfully that's the only time that ever happened.

[dixiegrrrrl]

27. Many people, including the drunks, think "blackout" means passing out.

That's why I was a bit concerned about the term being used in the questioning and answered by someone who may not know it means something different than passing out.

Plus, if you ask Do you ever drink to the point of passing out?
it is common to hear in return.." No, never. I drink and still can make it home and go to bed"
Where, a lot of us know, or remember, a nuclear bomb blast will not wake the guy who is, of course, passed out in his bed.

[Roland99]

3. I have one blackout period in my life

Was at a racetrack on a bachelor party. I’d hit two exactas and a trifecta. Was on Paxil at the time. Was going thru a divorce and I’d lost my job.

We were drinking Old Crow and Diet. Not sure how much I had. I’m sure it was a lot. My nephew said I was making crazy bets on races. No recollection at all

Woke up about 11pm in our hotel room. Do not remember going back there. Do not remember getting undressed. Don’t even remember taking my contact lenses out and putting them in the case.

A good 4-5hrs that I was up and about and have zero memory of

[JonLP24]

4. That is true

Someone can appear functionally but may be blacked out. Black outs are scary, you could go out driving or something and not even be conscious of it.

[Mariana]

10. They are fully conscious of what they are doing.

They just don't remember any of it later.

[JonLP24]

12. Alright

You can still end up going to prison for something you have no memory of which is why alcohol is one of my least favorite drugs.

[Wellstone ruled]

13. You have stated a real fact.

Have two Alcoholic Siblings. Seen it and it gets down right scary. And a few hours later,they did not remember a thing.

[peekaloo]

19. Yep, that's my neighbor.

Will come over to my house, drunk on her ass, insult and belittle me then disappear for a week. When she returns she knows she pissed me off but has zero recollection and apologizes.

[BigmanPigman]

6. You are correct.

I knew two very well for many years and you are right. That is how it is.

I remember reading an article about Anthony Bourdain a few years ago. He was in Sicily and was really pissed off about a shoot and got super drunk all afternoon, napped/passed out. Then the crew woke him up to film a dinner scene. He looked and acted like he always does and did NOT seem drunk at all. When he said in his narration that he didn't remember any of it he was being honest. In the article he said the same thing...didn't remember any of it ever. This was not the first time he didn't remember something on the show after drinking and he admits it.

People think you have to pass out/fall asleep to black out or look super drunk visually to black out. Not so.

[backscatter712]

25. Stephen King says he doesn't remember writing Cujo.

He's gone on the wagon now, but was a heavy alcoholic and drug abuser.

[BigmanPigman]

28. That is a looooooong black out!

[BamaRefugee]

7. I could DEFINITELY know when my alcoholic wife R.I.P. was blacked out

Because I couldn't open the front door when I got home, she could always make it home, then fall down unconscious on the floor as soon as she shut the door behind her, her immoveable dead weight made it impossible for me to push the door open later.
But I loved her!!!

[Mariana]

11. Passed out and blacked out don't mean the same thing.

The OP is talking about drinkers who are awake, but who later have no memory of what happened.

[CapnSteve]

8. Fixed the grammer in the title. The Myth is that anyone can tell if someone is blacked out...

...like those Kavanaugh "character witnesses..."

[marylandblue]

9. You know you blacked because other people tell you

They tell you that you did something while drunk and you say you don't remember. Cory Booker released a 2001 email where he seems to admit blacking out.

[argyl]

18. Yep. Simple as that. Hear it a few times and you know you're a blackout drinker.

And you see your friends staggering drunk but always able to remember what they did and come to realize that blackout drinking isn't typical.

[samnsara]

14. I had a black out once! Im not a big drinker and one night at home with hubby..

..I mixed Tequila and wine (no, not together)..I woke up with the alarm the next morning to get ready to go to work and I didnt even have a hangover but I realized I had NO memory of the night before!! So scary! Thank doG I was in my own home with my own safe family. I didnt mention it to hubby and he never said anything so I must have acted perfectly normal.

[Maraya1969]

15. You know if you've had a blackout if say, you don't remember driving home from the party

and yet home is where you are.

Or there are other big chunks of time that you don't remember or people tell you things that you don't remember.

I've had blackouts.

[forgotmylogin]

16. Happened to me one time.

I was drinking in college with friends, next thing I remember is sitting on the stairs outside the dorm bawling uncontrollably and a girl trying to calm me down.

No idea why I was crying, no idea what happened in between, couldn't tell you how I got there. It was totally weird like a jump-cut in a movie.

So yeah, the person blacking out isn't a good witness to whether they blacked out.

In my specific case, I learned that too much vodka specifically seems to make me the worst kind of drunk, and luckily I learned I don't like getting blasted party-drinking at all.

[kcr]

21. Vodka gave me the worst hangover I've ever had

It just wasn't a fun time, period. That was a lesson learned for me, for sure.

[forgotmylogin]

29. I think it's true that different liquors affect different people...

Due to body chemistry. I cannot seriously drink vodka (past one or two casual mixed cocktails - not intending to get drunk) because I get sloppy, angry, careless, and bad things happen - including that blackout episode.

I've never had the same effect (other than hangovers) with anything else, including tequila.

The "best" drunk experience I've had was on Jameson which - in my case seems to have a built-in safety feature - in excess, it disables my legs so I can't do anything or walk anywhere, and doesn't affect my emotions.

[Johnny2X2X]

20. I lived with a blackout drunk

She would drink to excess and maybe pop a couple pills and not remember a thing. It was awful as there was always major drama.

And the thing about blackout drunks is that they will deny they were black out drunk. And after years they'll say stuff like, "It only happened that one time." When in fact you can recount many instances of it happening.

It was an annual thing, 2-5 times a year she'd get blackout drunk.

[BlueIndyBlue]

22. I had a scary episode with this once

I was at a party with friends and began drinking Lemoncello straight. That drink is so sweet that I didn't think it would have as much of a punch as it did. We were playing cards and I remember laying down a card and nothing else until they were getting me into the car. One of my friends took a picture of me during the time period that I have no memory of and I looked normal. That scared me so badly that I have never allowed myself to get to that point since.

I think that is why many of Kav's friends can say that they have never seen him pass out which is a wholly different thing than blacking out. They probably had conversations with him that he could follow and reply but not remember the next day.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

23. Blackouts are most likely to occur when someone drinks a lot of alcohol in a short time,

which is what often happens when high school and college kids party hard. The sudden rush of alcohol affects the brain's ability to form short-term memories, so even if the person is conscious and functioning (although drunk), later on they won't be able to remember what they were doing.

The reports of Kavanaugh's heavy drinking as a teenager are pretty persuasive evidence that he was blacked out a lot. And maybe he genuinely doesn't remember what he did - and, because he wants to believe, and others to believe, that he is a virtuous man, he is furious at the claim that he might have done what he's accused of. I also suspect he might still be an active alcoholic because he was so angry and defensive when the subject of his drinking came up.

[moriah]

30. Yeah, my one and only blackout was when I was dared to chug four beers at 15.

On an empty stomach. First time I'd had more than a glass of wine.

Lost about an hour, memory came back with me in the back room of the warehouse with an older guy pawing me (all clothes on) and REALLY needing to pee. Was a "BBS Party", as in, I knew most of the people there online but not by face, and the same way vice-versa. I had the feeling I'd went back there willingly though I didn't remember doing it, as in my memory stopps with me awake and comes back with me being awake and not me being woken up by something, if that makes sense.

I told the guy to stop, that I needed to pee, and who was he again? He said his first name, then his "handle" online, I said mine, and he LEAPT away from me like I'd burned him and said he'd get a girl to take me to the bathroom. And did. (I was about two months from being legal, but looked older -- apparently I had introduced myself during the blackout by my first name and not my alias.) Another guy then got me food, we found my ride, who was puking drunk because he'd taken his mom's Xanax, and got both of us a ride home.

I don't like beer.

And insisted on testing my alcohol tolerance in a safe environment later. 3 drinks was my max for a long time.

Edit to add: Our state still says that if a victim is voluntarily intoxicated the legal line is if they are unconscious, not just obviously intoxicated. But for both guys safely and morally, it's probably just better not to attempt to hook up with a random drunk chick at a warehouse party. I feel I was lucky that beer makes you need pee. He probably feels HE was lucky it didn't get further than that, too, before my bladder intervened.

[Upthevibe]

24. I'm a recovering alcoholic who was a blackout drunk...

I've been sober for 28 years - I quit in 1990 at the age of 32. I've lost entire weekends! And the people I was with have always said I was talking and walking and acting somewhat normal. I remember one time a friend (who also was a blackout drunk) of mine and I went to Austin (from Corpus where we lived at the time) which was about a 4 hour drive. We started drinking in the car on the way, got to the weekend party on a Friday night, all went to a restaurant/bar and the next thing I know it's Sunday morning! The last thing I remember was being at the restaurant/bar. I have no recollection of that weekend after it happened and to this day have no recollection. I could've done God knows what....