What are blackouts? Alcoholics all experience blackouts. Alcohol induced blackouts are defined as periods of amnesia, and are caused when alcohol consumption levels prevent the formation of memories in the...
Alcohol induced blackouts are defined as periods of amnesia, and are caused when alcohol consumption levels prevent the formation of memories in the brain. These levels vary from person to person, and the time frame of these memory lapses is not always marked by visible altered states of consciousness. Alcohol impairs the ability to form new memories while the person is intoxicated, but does not erase memories that were formed before intoxication.
"There are all kinds of alcoholics, and there are people who drink and in time they blackout; others don't," says Dr. Ally Bloom, a medical director and owner of Pasadena Recovery Center. He is psychiatrist with four years experience in treating alcoholism.
Blackouts are common among alcohol abusers, and can be a warning sign to drinkers that they have an alcohol problem. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, blackouts are also considered an early high-risk indicator of alcoholism. There are two types of blackouts: en bloc (complete) and fragmentary (partial) blackouts. People experiencing en bloc are unable to recall any details from their intoxicated state. Fragmentary blackouts involve partial blocking of memory formation for events that occurred while the person was intoxicated. People who experience this type of blackout become aware of events that took place only when told or reminded that the event occurred. Typically, these reminders trigger some sort of recall of the missing information. Research suggests that this type of blackout is far more common than the other type of blackout.
In a study conducted by R.S. Ryback in the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, Ryback examined the impact of alcohol on memory in seven alcoholics. All subjects were white males between the ages of 31 and 44. Blackouts happened in five of the seven subjects. These subjects could not recall memories that happened the day before, and the blackouts ranged from nine hours to three days. Ryback concluded that a key predictor of blackouts was the rate at which subjects consumed their drinks. "It is important to note that all the blackout periods occurred after a rapid rise in blood alcohol level," he said.
"Blackouts are troubling and traumatic, especially if something serious happened to the person," says Bloom. "During these periods, incidents occur that puts the person in a situation that can not be erased."
Recent studies have determined that blackouts are more common among social drinkers, including college drinkers, than was previously assumed. While often confused with passing out after excessive drinking, blackouts do not involve a loss of consciousness. Blackouts are not associated with normal or healthy alcohol use. It is a chemically induced period of amnesia that can last for seconds, minutes, hours or days.
"Alcohol does have direct physical injury to the body over time; it clearly causes problems to the liver," says Bloom. "It can cause problems with the liver and cause problems with the brain and with the nervous system, and has actually a toxic effect upon many parts of the body. So it has a physically damaging effect on peoples' bodies, as well as psychological effects."
