
Letter of Recommendation: Hangovers - juanplusjuan
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/12/magazine/letter-of-recommendation-hangovers.html
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FlannelPancake
Ouch, this is clearly meant to be (at least somewhat) tongue-in-cheek. Calling
it "drug abuse" is a little extreme unless you're familiar personally with the
author.

It doesn't seem like it's affecting his life in an incredibly detrimental way,
supposing that at some point when the hoopla of a book release dies down he
stops drinking every night (and even then, the quantity consumed is an
incredibly important component).

It's just jokes.

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philipjoubert
In junior school I had a friend who was considered a little weird. One day
during break I came across him repeatedly hitting his head against a wooden
wall. He wasn't doing it especially hard - but I was certain it was hurting
him. When I asked him why he was hitting his head against the wall he said,
"It feels good when I stop".

This author is basically the drug addict version of my junior school friend.
They're both idiots - but one was 8 and the other is a respected author.

~~~
dfan
Your friend was quoting a very old joke. The earliest example I could find in
a quick search was 1919:
[http://forum.quoteland.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/99191541/m/600...](http://forum.quoteland.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/99191541/m/600102999)

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jrbapna
A good workout at the gym could have similar effects and is a much healthier
alternative.

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brianmcconnell
Kingsley Amis wrote what was probably the best description of a hangover, as
recounted by Dick Cavett here...

[http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/the-wrath-
of...](http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/the-wrath-of-grapes/)

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aaronem
Really, now -- I like getting trashed as much as the next guy, unless the next
guy is one of that interesting subset of HN commenters who appear to regard it
as "drug abuse", but how completely buried in your own head do you have to
spend your sober days for a hangover to seem psychically transformative?

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bstrom
So many less painful ways of reaching this mental state with greater clarity.
But if it works for him, then cool I guess.

~~~
chrismartin
How? Serious question.

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Jtsummers
As another mentioned, exercise can do it. I find running to be meditative.
Other than following the path (and sometimes just running) my mind is free to
do whatever. No distractions like computers and TV. I usually run without
music as well.

I also took up Brazilian jiu jitsu this year and I'm finding it helpful in
another way. I'm not very good at it, so I have to stay focused during class
and rolling trying to connect the dots. And it's sufficiently physically
exhausting that once I'm done I'm ready to eat and then pass out. The next
morning in feeling the soreness of my worn out muscles. Different but not
totally unlike the hangovers described. The major difference being a sense of
accomplishment and improvement letting me know that what I'm doing is worth
the effort.

~~~
comrade1
I run 5 days a week. Getting black out drunk is different. It's probably more
like electroshock therapy. Think of it as running is de fragging your drive
and getting blackout drunk is rebooting.

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facetube
Or, "how I became comfortable with my drug abuse and began to rationalize it
publicly".

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jotm
Yer an alcoholic, Kent!

~~~
marincounty
From a family of alcoholics, including myself at one time, In our family, when
you stopped getting hangovers; That was when knew we graduated in Alcoholism.
My father used to say, "I never get hangovers anymore!" He died of a liver
tumor about 10 years after the last time, I recall, him saying that.

(RIP dad--no one should suffer the pain you went through! I do miss you, but
not that angry personality. I know you weren't felling well during that last
decade though, and forgive all the mean things you did/said to us.)

~~~
praptak
I never ever got a hangover and not for the lack of trying (heavy drinking is
part of Polish culture). I doubt this particular aspect of drinking is a good
test for alcoholism. In particular "still getting hangovers, not alcoholic
yet" is a dangerous thought.

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comrade1
There's been a few times in my life where I reset myself by going on a bender.
I've only done it a few times but beforehand I was in a rut - stuck
motivationally, mentally exhausted, and after the bender feeling like my mind
has been reset.

Sure the hangover sucked, but even with the hangover I could feel my brain
being back to its normal energetic self including gaining the perspective of
an outside observor that he mention in the article, making my problems less
important.

I think some people do this through meditation, some through legal
pharmaceuticals, and some of us by getting completely blotto on alcohol.

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comrade1
Weird, was this removed?

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BenjiBajing
This is hacker news. Please post at
[http://www.reddit.com/r/alcoholism](http://www.reddit.com/r/alcoholism)

