
Different types of alcohol can have distinct effects on the drinker’s mood.
The holidays are coming, and for some, they might be bringing alcohol with them. A new study shows that different types of alcohol affect your mood in various ways. With this research, scientists analyzed the influence of different types of alcohol such as beer, wine, and spirits on the drinker’s mood. The team monitored how people might feel after consuming these either in public or at home.
Different Types of Alcohol, Different Reactions
To conduct this study, the team behind it made use of data gathered by the Global Drug Survey. This is the biggest worldwide online survey about illicit drugs and alcohol use. It included questions on alcohol consumption and the moods linked to different types of alcohol. Some of the emotions that were analyzed in this survey included feeling confident, tired, tearful, ill, aggressive, restless, relaxed, energized, and sexy.
For their study, the researchers looked at responses from almost 30,000 survey participants aged between 18 and 31. These came from 21 countries and mentioned that they had drunk different types of alcohol over the last year. The findings showed that while spirits are linked to negative feelings, red wine is connected to more positive ones. More than 50 percent of participants mentioned that they felt relaxed after drinking this type of alcoholic beverage.
When drinking spirits, people can develop feelings of aggression. Spirits such as vodka, tequila, and whiskey are more likely to cause an angry mood compared to wine and beer. The researchers mentioned that it is important to understand how different types of alcohol affect your attitude and how you can control it.
Alcohol Differences, but Also Different People
An important thing that should be taken into consideration, point out the researchers, is the difference between the participants. The gender, level of education, age, and the country of origin have a significant impact on the results. The team noted that spirits could cause different moods for different ages. For instance, among young adults (18 to 24 years old), this type of alcohol was associated with feelings of energy, sexiness, and confidence.
When it comes to gender, women were more likely to associate different types of alcohol with varying moods while men were more inclined to link them with aggression. The level of alcohol-dependency also had a meaningful impact on the study. Those who were considered heavy drinkers were more likely to associate different types of alcohol to aggression than those who were low-risk consumers.
Also, people who are considered heavy drinkers were five times more likely to associate energy with different types of alcohol compared to those who drank less often. This shows that people who abuse alcohol sometimes believe that alcohol is the one that brings them energy and helps them develop positive feelings, say the researchers.
Despite the fact that the study doesn’t show explicit evidence that can link certain moods to different types of alcohol, it did demonstrate the effects of drinking wine, spirits, and beer on a person’s feelings. Researchers mentioned that other factors could also influence these while drinking. For instance, advertising, the place where they drink, the period of time, and the concentration of alcohol from their beverage.
Detailed study findings are available in a paper in the journal BMJ Open.
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