Captain Morgan and Joe Student were best friends last night, but the “captain” couldn’t drive him home; so he thought he could just have a cup of coffee to sober up. He was wrong.

There are some who believe there are methods of sobering up, such as drinking coffee, but most of these methods are regarded as myths.

“I think some of the myths coincidentally work,” Debbie Conover, coordinator of student health services, said.

Not knowing where these alcohol myths came from, many students learn of them either by word-of-mouth or because they have tried them at some point in time.

“I tried to eat bread and drink a lot of water, but I just threw it back up. I guess it didn’t work,” Ryan Sharp, public relations major, said.

With spring break approaching, parties are being planned and alcohol will be in abundance, but most students do not realize the danger in believing alcohol myths.

“Teenagers and college students think they are invincible. A student could think he’s had coffee and end up driving, but fall asleep at the wheel,” Conover said.

Alcohol increases the level of stress on the body. This could be why it is considered a depressant. It also reduces a person’s motor skills. This includes his or her ability to perform sexually.

“Alcohol affects many different parts of the brain,” Angela Simon, psychology professor, said. “Coordination and balance slow down when you drink.”

Although drinking alcohol affects people differently, it especially impacts women, due to their smaller body sizes. However, men are usually able to consume more drinks before the effects hit them.

“I tend to call people when I’m drunk and tell them how much I love them. They usually don’t find it as funny as I do at the time,” Sharp said.

“No one thinks you’re fun when you’re slurring your words, stumbling all over your friends or puking out the car window.”

The most common myth is that there are numerous ways to speed up the process of becoming sober. But the body actually requires a significant amount of time to sober up completely.

“I try to control my consumption so there’s no process of sobering up,” Sharp said.

“I found sleep to be my best way to sober up after consuming alcoholic beverages,” he said.

“I don’t think a coffee myth would make a person drink more or less. But in both cases, it would be dangerous,” Simon said.