Alcohol May Not Make You More Social

Kids don’t have to drink alcohol to know that its effects make people more social and outgoing… or does it? That’s how social media, movies, TV shows, music, and peers often portray alcohol use. The setting is all too familiar – teens gathered for a party in a large house, using red plastic cups to drink alcohol, dancing and socializing with one another loudly and recklessly. With this strong imagery emphasized time and again, many draw the conclusion that alcohol makes a person the ‘life of the party.’ 

Recent research suggests that a portion of alcohol’s effect is all in our heads. What makes people more social and outgoing when they drink is less about what they’re drinking and more about the associations their brain has between alcohol and what its effect is supposed to be.  

Studies have repeatedly shown this placebo effect. When people are given a nonalcoholic beverage that they are told contains alcohol, they exhibit social and outgoing behaviors similar to those who are knowingly given a real alcoholic beverage. On the other hand, when people are given an alcoholic beverage but are told that it’s nonalcoholic, they become less social. In reality, alcohol is a depressant that slows down the body. 

This research is critical for teens to know before they are faced with the decision of whether or not to drink. The top motivating factor for teens who use alcohol is to have an enhanced social experience. Knowing this and understanding how alcohol affects the brain can have a direct impact on a young person’s choices. It’s not alcohol, but rather the expectation of what alcohol does that results in a person feeling more confident in a social setting. Encourage the teens in your life to say no to underage drinking by explaining the alcohol placebo effect to them. Help them understand that drinking alcohol isn’t required to have a good time.