Think Drink
According to a new study, when alcohol makes shy people less nervous in social situations, the effect is purely psychological.
The study looked at the effects of alcohol on people with social phobia. For example, some people suffer from stress which is debilitating even in ordinary social situations, such as chatting on the phone. Earlier research showed that 15 percent of people with social phobia have at some time had drinking problems, and that alcoholics are nine times as likely as the general population to have the disorder.
Joseph Himle, a psychiatrist at the University of Michigan, wanted to find out whether alcohol really does reduce anxiety. So, he enlisted the help of 40 people with social phobia who agreed to drink an unknown amount of alcohol before giving two impromptu speeches in front of an audience. Giving a speech without any preparation beforehand would naturally cause stress even for people without the phobia.
A key factor in the experiment was that the volunteers could not tell exactly how much alcohol they had drunk. Before the first speech, everyone gargled with mouthwash and drank a “placebo” of sour grapefruit juice that contained no alcohol except a little vodka rubbed on the rim of the glass. Before the second speech, 20 patients drank another placebo, and 20 drank grapefruit juice containing an amount of alcohol equivalent to between two and three glasses of wine.
The patients had to give 10-minute speeches on issues such as seat belts or gun control. After each one, the researchers monitored their heart rates and gave them a questionnaire to rate their level of anxiety. Himle assumed that everyone would be more relaxed the second time they gave a speech, but that people who had drunk alcohol would have calmed down the most.
However, consuming alcohol turned out to make no difference to anxiety levels when the volunteers gave the second speech. “We were surprised, because given the association between alcoholism and social anxiety, we were expecting a clear benefit.”
What did matter, the researchers found, was people’s perception of how much alcohol they had drunk. Even among those in the placebo group, a belief that the drinks contained alcohol made the volunteers significantly less nervous.
Bruce Thyer of the University of Georgia in Athens believes this is the most sophisticated study that’s ever been done to test the theory that alcohol has an effect on social phobia. “People’s expectations may make drinking helpful when they confront a frightening situation,” Thyer concludes. “But because alcohol can impair performance, it’s probably not the best way to cope with fear.”
The patients had to give 10-minute speeches on issues such as seat belts or gun control. After each one, the researchers monitored their heart rates and gave them a questionnaire to rate their level of anxiety. Himle assumed that everyone would be more relaxed the second time they gave a speech, but that people who had drunk alcohol would have calmed down the most.
However, consuming alcohol turned out to make no difference to anxiety levels when the volunteers gave the second speech. “We were surprised, because given the association between alcoholism and social anxiety, we were expecting a clear benefit.”
What did matter, the researchers found, was people’s perception of how much alcohol they had drunk. Even among those in the placebo group, a belief that the drinks contained alcohol made the volunteers significantly less nervous.
Bruce Thyer of the University of Georgia in Athens believes this is the most sophisticated study that’s ever been done to test the theory that alcohol has an effect on social phobia. “People’s expectations may make drinking helpful when they confront a frightening situation,” Thyer concludes. “But because alcohol can impair performance, it’s probably not the best way to cope with fear.”
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