xiphias: (swordfish)
[personal profile] xiphias
You know, a few weeks ago, I had occasion to smoke a cigar, and I found the process enjoyable -- there is definitely a pleasure to interacting with smoke and breath. It's like pretending to be a dragon, kind of! But I realized that I'm not actually clear on what the drug effects of nicotine are supposed to be, so I wasn't sure whether I was using the drug correctly. Because the only drug I actually use recreationally is alcohol.

And, as I am currently a bit buzzed, I figured I'd take the opportunity to talk about what I enjoy about the experience of alcohol.

As I may have mentioned, I changed my diet a couple months ago, and, as a result, have (deliberately) lost weight. As always, I want to make sure that my decision to change my weight is not a general statement that any particular weight or body fat percentage is ideal for all people; I simply had reason to suspect that, in my SPECIFIC case, I would be generally healthier at a different body composition, and have made a choice to work toward a new one. And I've noticed a lot of downsides to the body composition I'm moving toward, too, as well as the benefits I've been noticing.

One of the downsides is that I have a much lower alcohol tolerance. I've been mildly buzzed for nearly three hours now, on four ounces of 80-proof alcohol. Being mildly buzzed isn't a downside -- it's among the reasons I choose to drink -- but, as I enjoy the process of mixing and consuming drinks, reaching my desired intoxication level on a mere two drinks rather than four or six means that I get only half to a third of the pleasure of THOSE parts of the process. However, as I'm also trying to moderate my total intake of consumables, that has an upside, too.

Anyway, I thought I'd take the opportunity to discuss a few things that I enjoy about the experience.

When I'm at my desired level of intoxication, I have a sense of dissociation. This is the sort of feeling which is intensely disturbing if it is NOT intended, but which can be really interesting when it's entered deliberately, in a controlled manner, and with a confidence that it's merely temporary. It's nifty to experience the sense of estrangement from one's own physical AND mental being -- a sense of "self outside of self." There exists a "me" which is having and observing these experiences, but it -- I -- have a slight detachment from the experiences and my normal personality. I normally have a sense of identity with my body and my experiences; this creates a separation. Something like a delamination, perhaps: think of the body and the experiences and the self usually being a single mass, stacked one upon each other but glued together into a single thing, but the experiences of drunkenness very slightly separates these layers.

As such, my proprioception is slightly off. I know where my limbs and all are, but at a slight remove -- I know where my arms and head and legs and fingers and all are, and how they move, and all that, and have no trouble moving them, but there's a bit of a conceptual separation -- the notion that they are "MY" limbs and fingers is a bit less clear. It feels like they are things I'm controlling, but not, strictly speaking part of me.

This general dissociation is just fascinating to me, and I really enjoy experiencing it every so often -- a couple times a month, perhaps. More often that that is more than I really would enjoy.

(no subject)

Date: 2016-01-03 03:25 am (UTC)
ext_12246: (caduceus)
From: [identity profile] thnidu.livejournal.com
Sounds sound.

(no subject)

Date: 2016-01-03 03:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] browngirl.livejournal.com
Well said fellow buzzed person!

(no subject)

Date: 2016-01-03 04:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] karinmollberg.livejournal.com
I enjoyed reading this as a momentary alcohol substitute.

(no subject)

Date: 2016-01-03 05:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yardlong.livejournal.com
You said that very well, and I appreciate your use of the word "proprioception".

(no subject)

Date: 2016-01-03 01:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thebig41.livejournal.com
Interesting.

(no subject)

Date: 2016-01-03 09:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] davesmusictank.livejournal.com
Same buzz as i had on Xmas day lol. I do like the buzz
i get from a strong beer. Have not had a cigar for years. Might try one this week.

(no subject)

Date: 2016-01-04 07:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] metaphortunate.livejournal.com
That is a very good explanation!

The first time I ever got drunk, I remember being extremely annoyed about it. "I already learned how to walk ONCE. I was DONE with that activity requiring mental effort, what is this bullshit?"

With more experience I now only get drunk to the degree of slight, as you say, detachment, not forgetting how to walk!

It occurs to me that that is one of the social/psychological benefits of drinking; it's a lot easier to ignore, or at least live with, anxieties if they're just over there rather than RIGHTUPINYOURFACE.

(no subject)

Date: 2016-01-05 12:31 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xiphias.livejournal.com
Yes -- that's among the reasons people self-medicate with alcohol. It takes the edge off of, for instance, trauma.

In the modern world, we've got better options, but there are reasons that our stereotypes of people who've regularly experienced violence involve a lot of whiskey. Because it does, to some degree, WORK. It's not a GOOD solution, especially not when we've got therapies including medications that have the same benefits without the costs, but, historically, it's often been the best thing available.

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