Who Is Blacking out?

Blacking out is a period of alcohol-induced amnesia during which a person actively engages in behaviors like walking or talking but doesn't remember doing so.

What is a blackout drinker?

Alcohol-related blackouts are gaps in a person's memory for events that occurred while they were intoxicated. These gaps happen when a person drinks enough alcohol to temporarily block the transfer of memories from short-term to long-term storage—known as memory consolidation—in a brain area called the hippocampus.

What happens when you black out drinking?

A blackout from drinking is when a person experiences temporary memory loss and a feeling of lost time. During a blackout, a person is not unconscious. In fact, many people in a blackout continue to engage socially and even continue to drink.