This Is How Alcohol Disrupts Your Sleep

Most people have heard a glass of wine before bed isn’t always bad but that is false.

Relying on a drink to fall asleep is an unhealthy crutch many people depend on. While alcohol can initially deepen sleep during the early part of the night, it also disrupts sleep during the latter part of the night; this is called a “rebound effect.”

According to recent findings, alcohol does allow healthy people to fall asleep quicker and sleep more deeply for a while, but it reduces rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

Alcohol Before Bed is Linked to Dysfunctional Sleep Patterns

Drinking alcohol before bed is linked with more slow-wave sleep patterns called delta activity. That’s the kind of deep sleep that allows for memory formation and learning. At the same time, another type of brain pattern—alpha activity—is also turned on.

While you may fall asleep quickly after drinking, it’s also common to wake up in the middle of the night. One explanation is that alcohol may affect the normal production of chemicals in the body that trigger sleepiness when you’ve been awake for a long time, and subside once you’ve had enough sleep.

After drinking, production of adenosine (a sleep-inducing chemical in the brain) is increased, allowing for a fast onset of sleep. But it subsides as quickly as it came, making you more likely to wake up before you’re truly rested.

Alcohol Before Bed Blocks REM Sleep

Another reason people get lower-quality sleep following alcohol is that it blocks REM sleep, which is often considered the most restorative type of sleep. With less REM sleep, you’re likely to wake up feeling groggy and unfocused.

Alcohol causes your whole body to relax, including the muscles of your throat. And that makes you more prone to snoring and sleep apnea.

Alcohol is Not Good For Your Brain

Not only will alcohol disrupt your sleep but it’s also bad for your brain. Even moderate amounts of alcohol can affect brain function and studies show that people who drink every day have smaller brains than nondrinkers. And when it comes to the brain, size matters!

Sleep Your Way to A Better Brain

The Amen Clinics biomedical evaluation is part of the Amen Method Four Circles Approach to mental and physical health. We treat each patient as an individual, and take a full personal history before beginning SPECT imaging or recommending any treatment program.

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About the Author:

Daniel G. Amen, M.D. is a double board-certified psychiatrist, professor and 10-time New York Times best-selling author. He is one of the world's foremost experts on using brain imaging tools to help optimize and treat patients. He is founder of Amen Clinics, which has the world’s largest database of functional brain scans relating to behavior.