Uh-oh.
I went for a walk whilst feeling irrationally superhappy, had a nice phone conversation, and now I'm feeling a bit tired and I feel like I may be starting to plummet back down to Earth on the mood swing. And it's a long way down.
Maybe I didn't dodge the family's history of mental illness as neatly as I thought. :-/
You know, I sometimes get that after protracted binging: When the hangover symptoms are completely gone after 1-3 days, there's this weird fluctuation between tiredness and hyperactivity, depression and good vibes. Not sure whether it's connected to pre-existent psychiatric conditions and abnormal neurochemistry, or just an inevitable side effect of heavy drinking, but in any case there seems to be a causal relationship.
As Wikipedia tells us:Binge drinking regimes are associated with causing an imbalance between inhibitory and excitatory amino acids and changes in monoamine release in the central nervous system, which increases neurotoxicity; this may result in cognitive impairments, psychological problems, and may cause irreversible brain damage in both adolescent and adult long-term binge drinkers.[5][6] Similar to binge drinkers, individuals suffering from alcohol dependence develop changes to neurotransmitter systems, which occur as a result of kindling and sensitization during withdrawal. This progressively lowers the threshold needed to cause alcohol-related brain damage and cognitive impairments, leading to altered neurological function. The changes in activity of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitter systems is similar to that which occurs in individuals suffering from limbic or temporal lobe epilepsy.[7]
And this is what it says about
temporal lobe epilepsy:These may be mnestic sensations such as déjà vu (a feeling of familiarity), jamais vu (a feeling of unfamiliarity); amnesia; or a single memory or set of memories; auditory (an abnormal sound or tune); gustatory (an abnormal taste); olfactory (a smell that is not physically present); visual; or sensory (involving feelings on the skin or in the internal organs) sensations. Sensory disturbances may seem to move over the body. Dysphoric or euphoric feelings, fear, anger, and other emotions may also occur. Often, the patient cannot describe the sensations.
Isn't alcoholism just Grand, m8? C:
Author
Topic: Things that made you absolutely terrified today (Read 2009328 times)