Does alcohol affect the quality of sleep?

Today I want to explore and get you thinking about the relationship between alcohol and sleep. Does alcohol affect my sleep? How many of us have a drink before bed, believing it gives us a better night’s sleep? 

Both my grandmother and my father had an alcoholic beverage of some kind before going to bed. A few acquaintances have drinks every evening, reporting that they don’t sleep when they go without alcohol.

So does alcohol affect sleep?

Do you wake up feeling refreshed?

I come across people in my therapy room and outside that report poor quality sleep—often waking to feel like they have just gone a couple of rounds with Mike Tyson. Others are reporting very little sleep. In turn, they may start to feel sudden moments of anxiety or panic attacks throughout the day, along with thoughts of depression. 

Sleep is vital to our overall wellbeing

Sleep is a vital part of maintaining our health, both mentally and physically. I recently listened to Mathew Walker ‘Why we sleep.’ and highly recommend perusing this book. Mathew is a sleep researcher in Britain and the U.S. He explains the evidence supporting the correlation between poor sleep with different dementias, anxiety/depression, and physical ailments. 

Many reasons can affect sleep quality, like anxiety about events or overthinking future events, overstimulation of the brain and body from caffeine-based products or too much screen time.

I am not a sleep specialist, but I have many colleagues that I can refer clients to when I am not the right therapist.

How does alcohol affect the brain during sleep

The relationship between sleep and alcohol is widely misunderstood. From my experience with friends and clients, GPs do not ask patients how much alcohol they consume when they speak about poor sleep.

 GPs are busy and often do not have the time to ask patients with anxiety/depression and sleep issues about their daily consumed alcohol intake. The patient is sent away with an anti-depressant/anxiety tablet and possibly sleeping pills as well. 

Prescribing medication is like a sticky plaster; it is helpful initially. For example, when bandaged, a leaky pipe stops the water from being visible; however, the pipe is still leaking. The problem is still there, but for a short while, symptoms are masked until they are not. In a few weeks, the patient returns to the GP and is often prescribed a higher dose of medication, so the cycle continues. 

I have included a video of the effects of caffeine and alcohol on the brain. https://youtu.be/KQ9FfzMKBNc

• Poor sleep can lead to mental and physical ailments. The cycles of sleep are deep NREM or REM sleep. The first stage is responsible for the body’s healing and repair.
• The second stage is tidying up the day’s memories, sorting out what stays and goes to long-term memory and what is no longer essential to keep you safe. REM is the dream state responsible for creating new neural connections. We dream in metaphors, and often when we wake up, we have solved the problem of the day before. There is an 80/20 split. Both are vital to maintaining a healthy body and mind. 

I wonder if your sleep is of good quality? 

If you have been struggling with sleep issues, depression and anxiety do not fret any longer. There are things you can do to help yourself.

1. Drink more water during the day, and reduce caffeine and alcohol.
2. Ensure that the room you sleep in is dark. Use a blackout blind if necessary.
3. Reduce screen time by at least 30 minutes before sleeping. Listen to an audible book or meditation. These are two ways of resting the eyes and allowing the brain to quiet and relax.

Conclusion

So to conclude, alcohol before bed can do more harm than good. When the body gets used to a chemical through regular consumption, it requires more of that chemical to achieve the same result level. Like with the medication given by the GP, the original use of the chemical is masking the result that we desired initially. That may be a better night’s sleep or just a quietening of the noisy thoughts racing through the mind. 

It may take a few evenings for the substances to clear from the body’s system and possibly be some withdrawal symptoms. 

After that, new habits are possible, and as we can see, there are other ways of achieving these results.