Wanna know what my favorite 23-letter word is?

Neuropsychopharmacology

That's the name of an academic U.S. journal that just published a Japanese study which purports to prove that drinking really doesn't help one drown one's sorrows, as popularly believed.

A myth often depicted in film and acted upon by legions of disappointed losers trying to forget their problems, downing drink after drink of your favorite booze will not help you forget your troubles, the study finds. Rather, the alcohol will lock it into place, prolonging the negative memory longer than had you not taken a drop of hard stuff.

Or so says University of Tokyo pharmacology professor Norio Matsuki, whose study subjects were, as is often the case in these kinds of things, lab rats. {No mention is made of how a caged lab rat is supposed to be a legitimate proxy for a complex, footloose human being.}

What does one do in case one wishes to drown the memory of an unhappy event? "To forget something you dislike," says Matsuki, "it's best to overwrite the negative memory with a positive memory at an early stage and leave out drinking alcohol." {A positive memory for a lab rat, for instance, might be a night in the same cage with lab rat of the opposite sex.}

So, the next time your favorite team blows a big game, or the next time a romantic interest dumps you cold, or the next time George Bush does ANYTHING... instead of reaching for that handy bottle of Jack Black, do something positive that will produce a good memory to replace the bad. Let your imagination be your guide. Me... I go for a long hike.

Comments:

I learned a long time ago that booze doesn't help anything and only adds a hangover and guilt to the negative feelings you already had--last time I had alcoholic in any form was January 21, 1981!!

So true.Good article.Never understood why so many do this.
For me is to accept whatever happen in my life.
I may be depress for a spell,but get over it.
then continue on with my life.
I like that idea to think something postive to replace the bad.