Mean Drunk: Anger, Hostility and Alcohol

Stories turn up all the time: altercations on airliners, brawls in bars, or domestic disputes that end in gunfire. The catchphrase is usually the same: "Alcohol was involved. " Alcohol often fuels… Lue lisää Stories turn up all the time: altercations on airliners, brawls in bars, or domestic disputes that end in gunfire. The catchphrase is usually the same: "Alcohol was involved. " Alcohol often fuels less physically dangerous but more emotionally stressful confrontations at parties, business conclaves, or family dinner tables, manifested as cruel, hurtful words that can have devastating long-term effects on the recipients. The catchphrase? "That was the booze talking. "In Mean Drunk: Anger, Hostility, and Alcohol, William Tappan moves beyond the clich s and excuses to reveal the science behind the behavior. Drawing upon the latest scientific research in the field, illustrated by a broad array of dramatic case studies drawn from news stories, personal accounts, and his own decades of experience, Tappan defines and explains the hostility reaction to alcohol - HRA - as a specific neurobiological result of alcohol use. The evidence he presents points to cytokines: multifunctional proteins that trigger a defensive brain reaction to a perceived threat during alcohol consumption. Although firmly based in science, Mean Drunk also presents a series of shocking, moving, and sometimes bizarre stories of HRA as it leaves a trail of emotional damage, physical injury, and even death in its wake. From celebrities' widely publicized encounters with the law (Reese Witherspoon, Mel Gibson) and headline-grabbing public fistfights precipitated by everyone from laborers to professionals to the most potentially damaging encounters - those within families - Mean Drunk lays out the horrific results catalyzed by the neurobiological cause. A groundbreaking explanation of HRA, Mean Drunk moves beyond accounts of human distress to point a way to greater understanding of an all-too-common and neglected problem for both perpetrators and victims, offering the possibility of their choosing a path to a happier and more productive life. Mean Drunk is a must-read for alcohol research professionals, counselors, those personally affected by HRA, and anyone interested in the causes of this devastating social and emotional puzzle.