Alcohol is not the best remedy for insomnia
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
British scientists have reported that a glass of strong alcohol is not the best remedy for insomnia or bad sleep. Many people who are hard to immediately fall asleep, before going to bed, skip a stack of a second strong alcoholic beverage. Contrary to public opinion, the positive effect of alcohol is a misconception. Doctors from the University of London studied all the available information on the impact of alcoholic drinks on sleep and conducted several additional studies that confirmed that drinking before bedtime negatively affects human health.
Alcohol actually causes a rather fast falling asleep, that you should not deceive yourself: during a "drunk" sleep it will not be possible to get enough sleep. The mechanism of alcohol influence on human sleep can be described approximately as follows: alcohol causes too fast falling asleep, which causes the sleep phases to shift. Not so long ago a small dose of alcohol was considered a medicine, and some doctors recommended that their patients drink a glass of cognac or brandy in case of insomnia. In fact, such a habit can become fatal: first, you risk becoming addicted to hot drinks and entering the first stage of alcoholism, and secondly, disturbing healthy sleep will also not work, especially if you are over 50 years old.
Doctors warn that the game in this case is not worth the candle: in spite of the fact that alcohol can help fall asleep much faster, it destroys all important functions of the body. After drinking alcohol, in the human body there are processes that lead to a change in the natural rhythms of the brain, which are responsible for a sound and healthy sleep. A dangerous problem may be that alcohol breaks the rhythm of breathing, as a result of which a person begins to snore in a dream. This feature can not only cause discontent of others, but also lead to lethal consequences. In the history of medicine, there are cases when a person suffocated in a dream because of snoring, and the primary reason was a passion for alcoholic beverages.
A detailed study, according to information provided by scientists from London, showed that alcohol gradually affects three phases of sleep. First, after drinking alcohol, a person can instantly fall asleep. Secondly, alcohol immediately causes a very deep sleep, which usually happens to people who use antidepressants. Thirdly, because of alcohol, the most "fast" phase of sleep is disturbed, which is responsible for rest and recovery of body energy.
No wonder there is a saying: "the sleep of an alcoholic is strong, but brief", after several glasses of strong alcohol a person is able to fall asleep instantly, but the dream will not last 7-8 hours, necessary for rest. The initial stage of sleep will be sudden and deep, and then the dream will be broken: a person will begin to wake up more often, depressive thoughts, an unreasonable sense of anxiety or panic are possible. Sleep caused by alcohol, after a while will show the opposite effect: instead of the expected sound sleep, a person will feel tired and distracted.
[