Alcoholism and Sleep Disorders

Alcoholism and Sleep Disorders

Can heavy drinking or alcoholism cause sleep problems?

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There is an extremely common pattern of human activity that is often associated with substance use disorders, or addictions in general. I think that most people in recovery will know exactly what I am talking about. Sometimes you use a substance to solve a simple problem, and it works great. Sleeping pills are a classic example of this. However, when it comes to drugs and the human body, too much of a good thing is always going to cause issues. There is nothing wrong with taking a sleeping pill to get a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately, if you are having problems sleeping every night, and sleeping pills are the solution you have been using, you will develop two distinct problems quickly. There are usually serious side effects to taking a drug every day, even when there is no side effect at all from taking the drug a few times. First, because of the way tolerance and other metabolic processes work, you may find yourself needing to take more of the medication to get the same effects, in this case to get a good night of sleep. Taking more of a drug will almost always worsen the possible side effects. Secondly, if you were having trouble sleeping now and then before starting to take the pills, sleep might become almost impossible without the pills, and taking a bunch of pills every day forever is usually not a reasonable solution to any of this. It’s a vicious cycle. And for many people, this is what the beginning months of an addiction will look like. Many people who overdosed and died from barbiturates, which killed both Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, began using them to aid in sleep.

Connections Between Alcohol and Sleep

Alcohol is a depressant. Alcohol makes most people tired at some point after using a certain amount, even if the sleepiness is not the first or immediate effect. Passing out while drunk is one of the large causes of car accidents, beyond the obvious impairment that is caused while a person is still awake. Although most people do not use alcohol for sleep-related reasons initially, a depressant that causes sleep will always begin to affect the health of the natural sleep cycle if a person is using too often. Alcoholics use depressants too much and too often by definition, so sleep disorders are a common concern for drinkers.

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How quickly does alcohol turn from a possible sleep aide to a cause of sleep disturbance? The answer may shock many people. According to a survey of published research,

“Behavioral studies suggest that up to 2 to 3 standard drinks before bedtime initially promotes sleep, but these effects diminish in as few as 3 days of continued use. Clinical investigations support a relationship between sleep disturbance and alcohol use, but variability in the definition and measurement of these domains and a preponderance of cross-sectional studies make uncertain the strength and direction of the association.”

As is stated above, before this survey was conducted there was some uncertainty regarding the exact correlations between clinical sleep disorders, sleep disturbances, and alcohol use. It also must be stated that a large percentage of people suffer from sleep problems whether or not they use alcohol to excess. Almost every person will experience sleep problems at some point in life, and at any given time almost 20% of people report “severe insomnia” and half of all people report some level of sleep disturbance on a yearly basis.

This research also found that sleep disturbance from alcohol may be a useful marker for problematic alcohol use. Multiple studies found that “Alcohol is perceived to be a convenient, cost-effective and low risk hypnotic.” There seems to be a major lack of education regarding long term effects of alcohol consumption, as despite alcohol’s possible convenience, it is not cost-effective or low risk in the long term. Oftentimes it is not low risk in the short term. The long-term effects of alcohol abuse are arguably much worse than any of the sleep aids that alcohol would be replacing in the percentage of patients who view alcohol as a self-treatment for insomnia. At Florida Springs, the best drug and alcohol rehab in Florida, we not only offer a 30-day treatment protocol than can help people with alcoholism or other substance abuse problems, but we strive to educate the public on the dangers of problem substance use and related issues.

By T.A. Cannon

 

References

Stein MD, Friedmann PD. Disturbed sleep and its relationship to alcohol use. Subst Abus. 2005 Mar;26(1):1-13. doi: 10.1300/j465v26n01_01. PMID: 16492658; PMCID: PMC2775419.