Myth: Coffee, cold showers, and exercise will help sober someone up.
Fact: None of these methods will work. The blood alcohol concentration only diminishes at a set, slow, pace as the liver metabolizes the alcohol. Drinkers may feel more alert after drinking coffee or taking a cold shower, but the BAC will remain unchanged except for a certain metabolic rate per hour.
Myth: You'll get drunk a lot quicker with hard liquor than with a beer or wine cooler.
Fact: Alcohol is alcohol. In standard amounts, beer, wine coolers, wine, and hard liquor all have equivalent levels of alcohol and will make you equally intoxicated. A standard drink refers to any beverage with 1 ounce of pure ethanol alcohol: 12 ounces of beer or wine cooler, 5 ounces of table wine, 1 ounce of 100 proof hard liquor, or 1.25 ounces of 80 proof hard liquor.
Myth: Alcohol is an aphrodisiac.
Fact : Alcohol reduces inhibitions and may stimulate your interest in sex, but it reduces your ability to perform and your sensitivity to stimuli.
Myth: Everybody reacts to alcohol the same way.
Fact: Alcohol affects everyone differently. In fact, an individual's reaction to alcohol can vary depending on the circumstances. There are dozens of factors that affect reactions to alcohol - body weight, gender, how you feel mentally, body chemistry, tolerance, your expectations, and the list goes on and on.
Myth: Anyone who passes out from drinking too much should be put to bed and allowed to "sleep it off".
Fact: If a friend has had too much to drink and passes out, the worst thing you can do is drag them into a bedroom away from everyone else and close the door. Alcohol slows down the heart rate and breathing and lowers the blood pressure. The amount of alcohol it takes to make you pass out is dangerously close to the amount it takes to kill you. If a friend passes out, monitor their breathing and heart rate closely. If there is reason for concern, do not hesitate to get the individual medical attention. You may save their life.
Myths are provided by TSHC. For more myths, click http://www.tshc.fsu.edu/par/student_resources/alcohol_myths.htm
