Research shows that even late afternoon drinking with a delay of 6 hours before bedtime can disrupt sleep. This is further supported by research that indicates that alcohol has a relatively long-lasting change in circadian rhythm and sleep regulations. However, as a general rule for the odd occasional drink, stick to having a drink with a gap of at least 4-5 hours before bedtime. In addition to the homeostatic drive, the normal sleep-wake cycle is also linked to an underlying circadian rhythm.
How to improve sleep quality
The percentage of (A) slow wave sleep (SWS) and (B) rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in thefirst half of the night across multiple nights of drinking. Data are drawn from (Feige et al. 2006; Prinz et al. 1980; Rundell et al.1972). Generally, you may only have one drink per hour, and it’s best to stop drinking four hours before bedtime. Knowing how much alcohol you can take can help you avoid having sleep problems after drinking.
Deceptively Drowsy
Stanford Medicine-led research also tells us that when it comes to mental health, it’s not just sleep quantity but also timing that matters. Jamie Zeitzer, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences in sleep medicine, led a recent study of nearly 75,000 people in the U.K. Showing that going to bed early and waking early is better for a person’s mental health, even if they’re a night owl. While heatwaves exacerbate sleep struggles, alcohol’s role is often underestimated. “While hot weather can make your bedroom feel like an oven, alcohol is often the real culprit behind waking up restless at 3am,” Alshamari concludes.
- People with insomnia, for example, are 10 times more likely to have depression and 17 times more likely to have anxiety than the general population.
- Individuals frequently report waking up mentally fatigued despite spending sufficient hours in bed.
- In other studies that also were conducted during the descending BAC phase, alcohol reduced sleep latency, as measured by a standard MSLT, and impaired both attention and reaction-time performance in a dose-dependent manner.
- Some of these hormones are linked to sleep—if sleep is delayed, their secretory peaks also are delayed.
Sleep timing affects mental health
Circadian rhythms thrown out of sync can weaken the lining of the gastrointestinal tract, making it more vulnerable to permeation—that’s the leakiness that allows bacteria, toxins, and food to leave the intestines and enter the bloodstream. It’s not because I don’t appreciate a glass of wine with a great meal, or a few beers on a hot summer evening. It’s because I know what alcohol can do to sleep and healthy circadian rhythms. To minimize the impact of alcohol on sleep, have your last drink at least 3 or 4 hours before bedtime. Alcohol-induced snoring can be a minor annoyance for anyone you share a bedroom with, but alcohol can also cause or worsen a serious health problem called obstructive sleep apnea. In this type of sleep apnea, the upper airway closes while you are asleep.
Besides, drinking too alcohol and sleep much fluid before bed raises the chances an overnight bathroom break will interrupt your sleep. The amount of alcohol you drink and how close to bedtime you drink impact how you sleep that night and how you will feel the next day. Alcohol also affects people with central sleep apnea (CSA), which occurs when the brain periodically stops sending certain signals involved in breathing. Alcohol interferes with the brain’s ability to receive chemical messages involved in breathing, which decreases the body’s respiratory drive and increases the likelihood of pauses in breathing.
(2002) reported a trend for elevated beta activity in alcoholics across theentire night at baseline that became a significant difference during a recovery nightfollowing a night of partial sleep deprivation. (2009b) did not see any differences between alcoholics and controls in highfrequency EEG activity during sleep. Because these analyses are performed on stable sleepepochs, results suggest that once sleep is attained, it is not necessarily characterizedby elevated fast frequency activity. By contrast, primary insomniacs have greater betapower during NREM sleep than normal sleepers, thought to reflect higher levels of corticalarousal (Riemann et al. 2010).
Moderate alcohol consumption and sleep disruptions
- In their study, participants who went to bed late had higher risks of depression, anxiety and other mental health disorders, no matter whether going to bed late aligned with their natural sleep preferences.
- In addition, bursts of activity occur during the phasic periods in body functions that are controlled by the autonomic nervous system1; these bursts of activity are reflected by irregularities in cardiopulmonary function (e.g., heart rate and breathing rate).
- Dr. Abhinav Singh, board certified in Sleep Medicine and Internal Medicine, is the Medical Director of the Indiana Sleep Center, which is accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
- Alcohol aggravates OSA as it can increase the time between the breaths you take as you sleep.
Studies show that alcohol consumption is linked to a higher frequency of waking up during the second half of the night, which can make it hard to fall back asleep. These interruptions can cause a reduction in overall sleep quality, leaving you feeling unrested, groggy, and fatigued the next day. But according to Matthew Hewston, DO, a sleep specialist at Atlantic Health, although alcohol seems to help you fall asleep faster, it can significantly disrupt your sleep quality and lead to long-term health issues. Plenty of research suggests that the initial sedative effect of alcohol will wane as its levels in the blood decrease. This means that there may be a reduction in sleep onset latency (the time it takes to fall asleep) but you’ll run the risk of disruption to you sleep later in the night.
Sleep is also controlled by nerve centers in the brain, containing nerve stems that produce serotonin (a chemical linked to the onset of sleep) and also norepinephrine (which regulates slow-wave sleep). Alcohol consumption changes the function of these chemical messengers resulting in changes to your sleep patterns. Along with prescription medications and folk remedies, many have incorporated a glass or two of alcohol into their nightly routine to try to catch a few more hours of shuteye. Whatever you want to call it, it’s hard to deny the exhausting epidemic affecting millions of people all over the world. People, as a whole, are getting less rest and are desperately turning to pills or other aids as a result. Studies have found conflicting information about how alcohol affects REM sleep.
Which came first, the depression or the insomnia?
In that study, the alcohol-related suppression of growth-hormone secretion persisted over the 3 nights of alcohol administration, whereas tolerance developed to the alcohol-related enhancement of SWS. The clinical implications of alcohol’s inhibitory effects on growth hormone and the dissociation of growth hormone and SWS are unclear, particularly with chronic and excessive alcohol use. During the tonic periods, which account for the majority of REM sleep, muscle tone is decreased and the EEG is similar to that seen during stage 1 NREM sleep. For example, the eye movements characteristic of REM sleep occur in bursts during these phasic periods, which are followed by the tonic periods of EOG quiescence. Coupled with the bursts of eye movements are phasic muscle twitches, typically involving peripheral muscles, although the reduced muscle tone (i.e., atonia) characteristic of the tonic periods continues in most muscle groups.
Alcohol’s effects on other physiological functions during sleep have yet to be documented thoroughly and unequivocally. Some investigators have separately analyzed alcohol’s effects during the first and second half of the nighttime sleep period. These studies found that particularly at higher alcohol doses, increased wake periods or light stage 1 sleep periods occurred during the second half of the sleep period (Williams et al. 1983; Roehrs et al. 1991). This second-half disruption of sleep continuity is generally interpreted as a “rebound effect” once alcohol has been completely metabolized and eliminated from the body. This effect results from the body’s adjustment to the presence of alcohol during the first half of the sleep period in an effort to maintain a normal sleep pattern.
Alcohol and Insomnia: That Nightcap Might Keep You Up at Night
Goldstein-Piekarski also led a study on cognitive behavioral therapy for people who suffered poor sleep during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, when stress levels were high. Although that study was conducted virtually during lockdowns and brain imaging wasn’t possible, the researchers found that the therapy led to improvements in sleep which, in turn, led to lower levels of depression. Goldstein-Piekarski studies the science behind the impact of sleep on mood.