{{Short description|Intoxicated person making a phone call}} '''Drunk dialing''' refers to an intoxicated person making phone calls that they would not likely make if sober, often a lonely individual calling former or current love interests.
Drunk texting, emailing, and editing internet sites are related phenomena, and potentially yet more embarrassing for the sender as, when the message is sent, it cannot be rescinded; the message may be misspelled (due to being drunk), and it might be reviewed and shared among many.
==Hurtful communication== [[File:HarmCausedByDrugsTable.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Table from the 2010 DrugScience study ranking various drugs (legal and illegal) based on statements by drug-harm experts. This study rated alcohol the most harmful drug overall, and the only drug more harmful to others than to the users themselves.<ref name="Nutt_2010">{{cite journal | vauthors = Nutt DJ, King LA, Phillips LD | title = Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis | journal = Lancet | volume = 376 | issue = 9752 | pages = 1558–1565 | date = November 2010 | pmid = 21036393 | doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61462-6 | s2cid = 5667719 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.690.1283 }}</ref>]] {{see also|Hurtful communication}}
A 2021 study, that examined the relationship between drunk texting and emotional dysregulation, found a positive correlation. The findings suggest that interventions targeting emotional regulation skills may be beneficial.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Trub |first1=L |last2=Doyle |first2=KM |last3=Parker |first3=V |last4=Starks |first4=TJ |title=Drunk Texting: When the Phone Becomes a Vehicle for Emotional Dysregulation and Problematic Alcohol Use. |journal=Substance Use & Misuse |date=2021 |volume=56 |issue=12 |pages=1815–1824 |doi=10.1080/10826084.2021.1954027 |pmid=34353214}}</ref>
==In popular culture== In Kurt Vonnegut's 1969 novel ''Slaughterhouse-Five'', the main character describes his tendency to drunk dial: {{quote|I have this disease late at night sometimes, involving alcohol and the telephone. I get drunk, and I drive my wife away with breath like mustard gas and roses. And then, speaking gravely and elegantly into the telephone, I ask the telephone operators to connect me with this friend or that one, from whom I have not heard in years.|Kurt Vonnegut<ref>{{cite book |last= Vonnegut |first= Kurt |title= Slaughterhouse-Five |title-link= Slaughterhouse-Five |publisher= Dell Publishing |date=December 1991 |isbn= 0-440-18029-5 |page=4 }}</ref>}}
In the 2004 film ''Sideways'', Miles Raymond (Paul Giamatti) gets drunk and calls his ex-wife while at a restaurant. When he returns to the table, his friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church) asks him, "Did you drink and dial?"
== In media == The ''New York Post'',<ref name="nypost">Mary Huhn, "Call it TUI - Texting Under the Influence: High-tech hangovers haunt gadget geeks," ''New York Post'', page 41, April 21, 2005</ref> ''The New York Times'',<ref name="friends">Carol E. Lee, [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/opinion/30sun3.html?ex=1166763600&en=9057e1892eb7c209&ei=5070 The New Social Etiquette: Friends Don't Let Friends Dial Drunk] (opinion column), ''The New York Times'', January 30, 2005</ref> and ''The Washington Post'',<ref>Joel Garreau, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A23395-2002Jul30 Cell Biology: Like the Bee, This Evolving Species Buzzes and Swarms], ''The Washington Post'', Page C01, July 31, 2002</ref> have all reported on drunk dialing. Cell phone manufacturers and carriers are helping callers prevent drunk dialing. Virgin Mobile has launched an option to help its users stop drunk dialing by initiating multi-hour bans on calling specific numbers<ref name="engadget">Peter Rojas, [https://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000753022006/ Virgin Mobile wants to help stop you from drunk dialing] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051219111512/http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000753022006 |date=2005-12-19 }}, Engadget.com, November 30, 2004</ref> and the LG Group introduced the LP4100 mobile phone, which includes a breathalyzer.<ref name="cnet">Brian Haverty, [http://www.cnet.com.au/if-you-drink-dont-dial-240064084.htm If you drink, don't dial], CNet Australia</ref> Although the breathalyzer function was incorporated to help the user assess fitness to drive, rather than fitness to phone, the owner can program the LP4100 to restrict calls to specific telephone numbers on certain days or after a certain hour, a feature that might help limit drunk dialing by eliminating calls when the user is more likely to be intoxicated. This requires prior planning or awareness that one will become intoxicated at a later time. Some reports indicate that this phone, or a planned future version for U.S. release, would activate the call-blocking function in tandem with the blood alcohol content results from the breathalyzer.<ref name="cellcantell">Keith Garvin, [https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=2125709 New Cell Can Tell If You're Drunk: Already a Hit in Korea, LG Releases Cell Phone with Built-in Breathalyzer], ABC News, June 27, 2006</ref><ref name="bu">David Brand, [https://archive.today/20071007103314/http://www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2006/10/12/News/Firm-Aims.To.Save.Drunk.Dialers.From.Themselves-2347010.shtml?norewrite200612201502&sourcedomain=www.dailyfreepress.com Firm aims to save drunk dialers from themselves], ''The Daily Free Press'', Boston University, October 12, 2006</ref> A mobile app Drunk Mode was launched in April 2013. Drunk Mode prevents users from calling or sending messages to specific contacts for up to 12 hours. A reported feature also sets notifications every 30, 60, 90 or 120 minutes to remind users not to engage in certain "drunk behaviors".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://topmobiletrends.com/no-more-drunk-dialing-an-app/|title=No More Drunk Dialing, an App|author=Jacquelyn Tanner | publisher=Top Mobile Trends|date=29 April 2013| access-date=11 August 2016}}</ref>
== References == {{Wiktionary|drunk dial}} {{reflist}}
{{Alcohol and health}}
{{clear}} Category:Drinking culture Category:Mobile phone culture Category:Error Category:Telephony Category:Interpersonal relationships