“Seeing pink elephants” is a euphemism for drunken hallucination caused by delirium tremens.
- Jack London, describing one sort of alcoholic in the autobiographical John Barleycorn, writes that he “is the man whom we all know, stupid, unimaginative, whose brain is bitten numbly by numb maggots; who walks generously with wide-spread, tentative legs, falls frequently in the gutter, and who sees, in the extremity of his ecstasy, blue mice and pink elephants. He is the type that gives rise to the jokes in the funny papers.”
- A reference to pink elephants occurs in the 1941 Disney animated classic Dumbo. Dumbo, having taken a drink of water from a bucket spiked with moonshine, begins to hallucinate singing and dancing “Pink Elephants on Parade.”
- Jazz musician Sun Ra performed this Disney song often with his band the Arkestra in the 1970s, and said that he did so because humanity needed calming to prevent nuclear war.
- In The Simpsons episode “D’oh-in’ in the Wind”, Barney Gumble, under the influence of peyote, has a hallucination of a monster. He quickly drinks a beer, which causes a pink elephant to appear and destroy the monster.
- In another Simpsons episode, Bart and Lisa fight over a pink elephant balloon. The balloon then escapes the house and flies into a building where a group of gay republicans are discussing possible mascots. When the balloon enters the window, one says, “A little on the nose, don’t you think?”
- The phrase is also used in Maakies, a comic strip by Tony Millionaire, in a strip entitled “It’s The Early Bird! Run!!”
- A slight variation on the pink elephant appeared in Punch Trunk, a 1953 Looney Tunes cartoon, in which a drunk spots a tiny (but grey) elephant, looks at his watch, and proclaims to the elephant “You’re late!” He then staggers away, commenting “He always used to be pink.”
- The Huyghe Brewery in Melle, Belgium brews several beers, including Delerium Tremens, which feature pink elephants on the label.
- In Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 Ollie the Magic Bum, assumed to be drunk, gives a mission involving collecting Pink Elephants.
- In the Madonna song ‘Dear Jessie‘ the chorus starts with the phrase “Pink elephants and lemonade”.
Delirium tremens (colloquially, the DTs, “the horrors“, “the shakes” or “rum fits;” literally, “shaking delirium” or “trembling madness” in Latin) is an acute episode of delirium that is usually caused by withdrawal or abstinence, from alcohol following habitual excessive drinking, or benzodiazepines or barbiturates (and other minor tranquilizers). Delirium tremens can also appear after a rapid reduction in the amount of alcohol being consumed by heavy drinkers, or a rapid reduction of intake of benzodiazepines or barbiturates. Caused by alcohol, it only occurs in individuals with a history of constant, long-term alcohol consumption. Occurrence due to benzodiazepine or barbiturate withdrawal does not require as long a period of consistent intake of such drugs. Prior use of both tranquilizers and alcohol can compound the symptoms, and while extremely rare, is the most dangerous especially if untreated. Barbiturates are generally accepted as being extremely dangerous, both due to overdose potential and addiction potential including the extreme withdrawal syndrome that usually is marked by delirium tremens upon discontinuation. Due to this, barbiturates are rarely used ambulatory anymore, being replaced by the generally accepted less dangerous benzodiazepines, which however still cause a similar withdrawal syndrome.
Five percent of acute ethanol withdrawal cases progress to delirium tremens[1]. Unlike the withdrawal syndrome associated with opiate addiction (generally), delirium tremens (and alcohol withdrawal in general) can be fatal. Mortality can be up to 35% if untreated; if treated early, death rates range from 5-15%.[2]
