With the kick-start of a new year and a new semester, everyone, I know, is filled with excitement and anxiousness to get back to school and party with all of their favorite people (including myself). The combination of exhilaration, anticipation, and alcohol can sometimes cause us humans to overdo it — or worse, become the embarrassingly drunk and emotional versions of ourselves.
Because alcohol so intensely impacts the brain — our limbic systems especially — most of us have had moments where we say things we shouldn’t, act like we never would if we were sober and sometimes even seem like we've turned into a completely different version of ourselves. Needless to say, this does not happen every time we drink. Some people are strictly happy drunks, getting sillier as time goes by, but many people (including myself, yet again) often let our emotions — the overly happy, the angry and the sad — overpower us once we have over-indulged.
It is for those nights that I offer these tips on how to stay sane when you’re becoming an emotional drunk, featuring How I Met Your Mother:
1. Be aware of your body. This is probably the most popular and most cliché tip about drinking, but knowing where your happy, drunk self ends up and goes off the deep end is quite helpful when trying to avoid unnecessary tears or fights. The easiest solution to not being excessively emotional is to only drink enough so that you can enjoy your night and keep yourself in check.
2. Always have a friend by your side. Everyone knows about the buddy system for safety, but nothing comes in handy more than a friend to bring you back to planet earth when you start acting like some crazy person. Having him or her with you, offering comfort, common sense or even harsh reminders of how crazy you're being, is the biggest blessing at times.
3. Write yourself a note. Whether it's just a reminder to keep yourself in check or a message with some good vibes, reading over it may bring you back to your senses and help you remember what matters and who you really are.
4. Look at your old funny and happy pictures. Having a visual reminder of the people you love — and who love you — as well as the happy emotions that come along with them, could trigger your better emotions and pull you back to sanity.
5. Remember that tomorrow is a new day. At some point, you will be sober again and most likely regret what you said or did. Because alcohol is a depressant, over-consumption over short periods of time can bring out all of the subconscious things that are irritating you. You do not want to wake up the next day with the mess of having to apologize to your boyfriend or best friends for blurting out something stupid or incessantly crying for little to no apparent reason … trust me. It is always better to bring things up while you are sober. So remember — when you’re motivated to say something, that’s been on your mind or bring up a sensitive subject — tomorrow is always a better time. Don’t start thinking of "YOLO" or "live in the present" or one of those supposedly motivational phrases and allow them to motivate you to say or do something that should wait until tomorrow. Just don’t.
This article is for the people out there who, like me, feel everything and have had nights where our emotions have completely overwhelmed us; thanks to our trusty friend, alcohol. Maybe some of these tips could help you when you lose your grip on your emotions. I know my boyfriend, as well as any single one of my best friends, are thankful for every instance where I've kept my dramatic tendencies and myself in check.
Bottom line: every person has a side that too much alcohol (and the excitement of going out on the town) can possibly bring to the surface. With these tips under your belt, maybe you can use them to check yourself before you say or do anything you could regret the next day. Now, you can ensure that your night has the potential to always be legendary.
