How does alcohol affect sleeping patterns?
Life is stressful these days. When you have just returned home after a hard day’s work and have thousands of thoughts on your mind, it might be tempting to get a drink or two to soothe the nerves, right? A lot of people think that getting a little alcohol into their blood stream is going to help them sleep better and get rid of their stressful thoughts, even if for the night. A lot of people find alcohol helps them go to sleep usually. But did you know that consuming even just a few drinks may affect your sleep pattern negatively? And if you are one of those people who drink more than what the government guidelines tell you to, that is, 4 or 5 units if you are a man and 2 or 3 units if you are a woman, the chances are you may wake up most mornings with the feeling of not having rested at all. This may not be what you thought about alcohol and sleep, but scientific research has proven this time and again. How does alcohol affect sleeping patterns?
There are a lot of people who can’t find the connection between having problematic sleep patterns and their drinking. A recent poll by the government has found that 2000 respondents feel tired when they wake up the morning after they have had more than what the guidelines recommend the night before.
Alcohol is one of the evils that create problems in sleep patterns. If you find that you are drinking everyday way beyond what the guidelines recommend, your body may have to deal with it by trying to catch up and failing. This will create disruptions in sleeping patterns. This may lead you to not being fully alert and feeling fatigued even after you wake up after a full night’s sleep.
Why alcohol affects one’s sleeping patterns?
After a heavy night, why is it that you get up early? And why is it that you feel tired after an alcohol- induced sleep?
Scientists delving into the effects of alcohol on sleep have found out clearly that drinking causes disruptions in the sleeping patterns of an individual. When a person drinks when it is close to bedtime, he goes to deep sleep immediately when he hits the bed. This prevents him from passing through the first stage of normal sleep, i.e., REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. A deep sleep is important to rest the body and alcohol can interfere with it. When you drink heavily, your body goes to deep sleep and when the effects of alcohol start wearing off, the body experiences REM sleep. This kind of sleep is easier to wake up to and that is why a good sleep is usually not possible after a night of heavy drinking. Another problem with drinking and sleeping pattern is that if you drink before bed, it may make you go to the toilet at night. This again disrupts your sleep.
Drinking as little as possible or even none at all is the best way to ensure that you sleep normally.
