“Many people find that while it initially seems difficult to break the habit of using alcohol to induce sleep, they soon adjust and experience better sleep and energy overall,” she continues. REM sleep behavior disorder, also known as rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a condition in which individuals experience realistic, often frightening dreams during the REM sleep stage. This may result in the person verbally does alcohol cause insomnia or physically acting out their dreams, which may cause abnormal behaviors such as kicking, flailing, jumping or yelling during sleep. Alcohol further increases the effects of sleep apnea by relaxing the muscles in the throat, collapsing the upper airway and lowering oxygen levels. This not only worsens pre-existing sleep apnea but may also lead to episodes of sleep apnea in individuals who previously did not experience it.

We also discuss the possible negative effects of alcohol on the body and sleep. Consuming two servings of alcohol per day for men and one serving for women can reduce sleep quality by 9.3%. If you’re struggling with alcohol use disorder (AUD), you may develop insomnia during withdrawal or recovery.

Kirk J. Brower

It has also been shown that the rate of sleep disturbance is significantly higher in individuals diagnosed with alcohol dependence than in the general population [102,103,104]. There is also evidence of increased REM sleep pressure (Gillin et al. 1990; Drummond et al. 1998;
Thompson et al. 1995; Gann et al. 2001; Feige et al.
2007; Colrain, Turlington, https://ecosoberhouse.com/ and Baker 2009b). It is reasonable to expect increased REM pressure in actively drinking or recently
detoxified alcoholics, given that REM sleep is suppressed with high doses of alcohol (Aldrich 1998). This form of REM rebound cannot explain the
increased REM in those who have been abstinent for a long time, relative to controls.

Researchers have found that the sedative effect only lasts for the first part of the night, though. People who consume alcohol before bed don’t wake up as often during the first few hours of sleep. Preventive action through accurate worker history, including the administration of questionnaires to detect the presence of alcohol or sleep disorders, would help both the health of the worker and the increased safety of the worker and those working with them. Alcohol can have a sedative effect and cause a person to fall asleep more quickly than usual. However, consuming alcohol can also cause sleep disruption and other adverse effects on people’s health.

How Does Alcohol Affect Your Sleep?

However, this pattern of the effects of withdrawal on REM% has not been reported since. The percentage of subjects with alcohol-related problems among night workers compared with day workers may partially explain the high incidence of insomnia disorder found in this group. On the other hand, it has been reported that alcohol, taken in high concentrations and for fairly long periods of time, is able to modify sleep architecture and promote the onset of sleep disorders [86,99,100,101].