Empathy and Alcohol

On the occasion of her thirty-first birthday, Princess Morag concluded that an appropriate celebration might involve a small gathering of her friends with whom she has journeyed the last three years of motherhood.  So off to the pub they went and on her return Princess Morag was bearing a big smile on her face.  This does not happen frequently enough, especially in the last year when she has felt quite blue quite often.  One of her friends attributed this change in affective state to the benefit of empathy and alcohol.  Princess Morag thinks she is probably right.