
The Metaphysics of the Hangover - pepys
http://iasc-culture.org/THR/THR_article_2017_Summer_Edmundson.php
======
Nursie
Hangovers are a wretched, miserable thing, it's true, but beyond the flowery
language of metaphysics, they are at least in part due to our drug of choice.

Ethyl Alcohol is not kind to the body, its metabolic pathyway involves
formaldehyde, for a start. There are other substances, other alcohols even,
that can have similar effects but without the specific awfulness of the
hangover.

Certainly, what the author describes as putting the walls back up, that's
likely going to happen regardless of the drug, but the pain, nausea and
dehydration are signatures of booze, and these will affect your mind too -
makingyou more wretched and self pitying.

~~~
andrepd
IIRC we don't really know what causes hangovers. Can you give more info on
that thing you said about different alcohols not giving hangovers?

~~~
swiley
My cousin who drinks/drank a lot says it's really dehydration. Apparently if
you drink a lot of water at the same time you tend to not get them.

~~~
taternuts
Honestly I think you just feel less hungover with tons of practice. I used to
drink every night, and swore by my method of drinking tons and tons of water
during and after so I would be 'OK' in the morning. It worked for years. Then
I got injured and basically had to stop drinking to let it heal, and after 2
months off, I've never been able to drink like that again. The same methods
give me a hangover that I can't work through anymore and I only drink on
weekends now. As bad as it was for me drinking every night, I had a lot of fun
and almost wish I could still do it. My liver is probably pretty happy about
the current situation though.

~~~
castle-bravo
I wonder if this is age-related. I never drank much before, but since I turned
27, I've noticed that I can get drunk on one half to one-third the amount it
used to take me.

~~~
sgt101
It's age related. When you are 18 your liver is like a glittering biotech
factory, like the ones on Kendall Square. When you are 40 it's a test tube,
one of the scratched plastic ones at high fucking school.

[http://wp.streetwise.co/wp-
content/uploads//2015/06/Renderin...](http://wp.streetwise.co/wp-
content/uploads//2015/06/Rendering-Send-to-Paula.jpg)

[https://proscitech.com/img/l/lcb12.jpg](https://proscitech.com/img/l/lcb12.jpg)

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ribfeast
This article is long-winded, pretentious and misses Kingsley Amis' best
definition of the metaphysical hangover:

> When that ineffable compound of depression, sadness (these two are not the
> same), anxiety, self-hatred, sense of failure and fear for the future begins
> to steal over you, start telling yourself that what you have is a hangover.
> You are not sickening for anything, you have not suffered a minor brain
> lesion, you are not all that bad at your job, your family and friends are
> not leagued in a conspiracy of barely maintained silence about what a shit
> you are, you have not come at last to see life as it really is and there is
> no use crying over spilt milk.

~~~
52-6F-62
I'd never caught that quote before, and I've read Amis before. That's great,
thank you. I'm going to stash it away for those much needed moments...

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draw_down
I don't recommend getting too florid with it. Alcohol is bad for us, we know
that and drink it anyway because it's fun, and if we're not careful the next
day is uncomfortable. Drink with food in your stomach and have water while you
drink, and try not to feel too sorry for yourself.

~~~
bradford
There's a common notion that drinking with food in ones stomach and proper
hydration can prevent a hangover. I'm not sure that you're personally making
this claim, but it's a personal mission of mine to dispel the claim as utter
BS.

The sad truth is that a hangover happens because it's your bodies response to
metabolizing a poison. Drinking less is the only real prevention, and proper
rest/time is (generally) the only treatment. I'd have been saved a lot of pain
had only someone told me this when I was younger, instead, I received a bunch
of misinformed advice which, while probably well intentioned, did absolutely
nothing to help.

Sure, eating well and drinking water will make you feel better, but that's
true in any situation, so the explanatory power of it is lacking.

some further reading for explanation, in case anyone is interested:

[http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/your-
complete-g...](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/your-complete-
guide-to-the-science-of-hangovers-180948074/?no-ist)

[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/in-search-of-a-
cu...](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/in-search-of-a-cure-for-the-
dreaded-hangover/)

~~~
twic
As the SciAm article mentions, NSAIDs are somewhat effective. Take a dose of
ibuprofen before going to sleep and you'll be a better off in the morning.

~~~
blacksmith_tb
Hmm, NSAIDs are generally not recommended in combination with alcohol, e.g.
[1] (along with lots of other pharmaceuticals)

1:
[https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh23-1/40-54.pdf](https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh23-1/40-54.pdf)

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rootw0rm
this is why i stick to ether.

