Drunkenness and Suggestion: An Experiment with Intravenous Alcohol

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Abstract
In an attempt to eliminate the influence of suggestion from the effects of ethyl alcohol, the drug was administered intravenously, in the amount of 1 cc. per kg of body weight, to 15 normal adult volunteers, all psychiatric residents, who were not informed as to what they were receiving. Nine subjects were tested individually; 6 in groups of 3. There was no specific task for the subjects to perform as they remained under observation for a period of 2 hours, the first half of which was taken up by the procedure of the intravenous injection. The blood alcohol levels achieved were believed to be of the order of 0.1%. Behavioral as well as subjective change resulted universally though not uniformly. Contrary to the hypothesis that would attribute a major part of the alcohol effect to suggestion, it was found that the subjects could look and feel drunk whether or not they knew or thought they were under the influence of alcohol. It proved difficult to record and evaluate the behavior, which in most cases changed toward elation and excitement, subsequently quieting down to a state of relaxation, sleep or stupor. Subjective data refer to a series of reactions, stated here in the approximate order of their reported incidence: apprehension and bewilderment; paresthesia, peculiar taste, diplopia, dysarthria and disturbed proprioception; feelings of depersonalization, irresponsibility, euphoria and gregariousness; timelessness, fatigue and depression. The subjects tested in groups exhibited more elation, aggression and boisterousness, and only they expressed any hostility. Aftereffects were many and variable. A number of specific and nonspecific suggestive factors inherent in the experimental set-up were discussed in conjunction with the obtained results. The nonspecific suggestion which the element of the unknown carries with it seems to have resulted in a wish to establish a frame of reference to guide behavior. Some of the extremity of the reported reactions may be related to a determined effort on the part of the subjects to cope with a generally challenging situation. On the other hand, the specific suggestion of an expected change was probably induced by the fact that there was no task to perform while being under observation.

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