A man with a long history of heavy regular drinking becomes loudly argumentative and unsteady on his feet after finishing most of a bottle of spirits at a party, later apologising the next day and recalling the argument clearly. Before revealing the answer: is this pathological drunkenness?
No. This is ordinary alcohol intoxication: a substantial quantity of alcohol consumed, the expected physical signs of drunkenness (unsteadiness) present, and clear memory retained afterward — none of which fits the pathological drunkenness pattern, which requires a small quantity of alcohol, absence of usual drunkenness signs, and genuine amnesia for the episode.
References
- Casey, P. & Kelly, B. (2019). Fish's Clinical Psychopathology, 4th ed. Ch. 8, 'Motor Disorders'.