What does alcohol do for tickling?

[cocopolo]

I'm thinking it completely destroys it.

My friend was extremely drunk the other night, and had a hold of one of my pool sticks while I was trying to play pool. I tried to slap him to get the pool stick away, but that didn't work. I then tried to tickle him under his arm (which usually results in a huge laugh) but he didn't say anything, he just kept holding on. As he was sitting in a chair, I took off his shoe and tried to tickle his feet (Which he said was his most ticklish spot). He smiled, but nothing like he would had it been a few hours earlier. In either case he held onto that stick for a good two hours, and I don't think I ever finished the game.

Long story short, does alcohol numb you up something?

 

[EvlJester]

Well I know that when Smurfie drinks she is 10x more ticklish then she usually is. Like after she gets a pedicure her feet are more sensitive.

 

[Ticklerguy4u]

There is a point when you drink over your limit that you can become physically numb. Which is why if you trip or you hurt yourself, you wont feel it until the next day.

 

[LindyHopper]

Alcohol is a funny drug. It's a central nervous system depressant, so it tends to dull sensations, including tickling. At the same time, it's a disinhibitor, so people who can usually hold in their reactions to being tickled may be less able to do so while intoxicated.

I believe you can think about it the same way as how alcohol affects sexual behavior. I always have students ask me, "Why does alcohol make you horny?" The answer is, it doesn't - in fact, it dampens the sexual response, making it more difficult to become physically aroused. What it does do is lessen people's inhibitions, so many of them act more sexual than they would while sober.

Alcohol also has a large expectancy effect, which means that if a person expects to feel more sexually aroused, ticklish, relaxed, excited, or whatever, they're more likely to experience that state. This would happen to a degree even if you gave them a drink with no alcohol in it, if they believed it was the real thing (we're talking about a placebo effect, in case you wanted the vocab word). Since people have very different expectations of how they will feel when they're drunk, you see different responses and behaviors to a central nervous system depressant that does the same thing, biologically, to everyone.

So, both the tickling example and the sex example illustrate how different people could respond differently under the effects of alcohol. A person who is already pretty free in their responses, while sober, would experience a dampening of their usual reactions while intoxicated. A person who is usually more restrained would be more likely to experience, subjectively, an increased sensitivity, even though the biological effects of the drug are the same.

[end "Drugs, Brain, and Behavior" lecture] 🙂

 

[daddy]

Damn...great reply Lindy! For most, that would be the case...but there are always a few that go beyond the logic of it all...and god love em!

peace out,
daddy

 

[Redmage]

You go, Lindy!

I knew I loved you for your mind. 😉

 

[Mastertank1]

It varies

from person to person; in small amounts it relaxes inhibitions and makes a 'lee/sub more responsive. In large amounts it numbs. What is a large or small amount is different for each person. personally, as a top I will not do a scene if I've had more than 1 drink per hour over the course of the evening, because the first thing you lose is the ability to judge how much control you still have.

Mastertank1

We who play and dance are thought mad by they who hear no music.