Why Does Alcohol Keep Me Awake All Night?

Photo by Miikka Luotio on Unsplash

When it comes to sleep, it looks like alcohol has an effect opposite the one many think it has.

It turns out that not only is a nightcap a bad way to  send you off to bed, your drinking habits overall could be affecting the way you sleep.

Can drinking too much alcohol cause sleep problems?

Yes, alcohol can keep you awake all night and cause sleeping problems, contrary to what you might think.

In a questionnaire-based study published in 2015, researchers scored participants on an alcohol use disorder test and a sleep quality test. They found that for men, those who drank more tended to sleep worse–including poorer sleep quality, shorter duration, and more disturbances.

Women who drank more didn’t tend to have less quality sleep, but they did have more daytime dysfunction.

This is important because scientists are finding more and more physical and mental health effects of lack of sleep.

In the 2020 year, dozens of papers and studies have described the cost of diminishing your nightly recharge session. For example:

• Sleep may help your immune system’s remember and fight off old enemies.
• Short sleepers are four times more likely to catch a cold.
• Lack of sleep is linked to Alzheimer’s and memory loss.
• Sleep helps you react less emotionally to stressors.

And more recently, we saw studies on:

• Effects of sleep deprivation on college students.
• If you're sleep-deprived, you're more likely to feel stressed, anxious, and even suicidal.
• People with good sleeping habits are less likely to die early.

I could go on and on.

If you’re not sleeping well, try cutting out or cutting back on the alcohol. It’s so important: Get some sleep!

Satu Woodland is owner and clinician of Mental Health Solutions, an integrative mental health practice located at Bown Crossing in Boise, Idaho. She sees children, adolescents, and adults.

Author

Satu H. Woodland, PMHCNS-BC, APRN Satu Woodland is owner and clinician of Hope Mental Health, an integrative mental health practice located at Bown Crossing in Boise, Idaho. She sees children, adolescents, and adults.  Ms. Woodland with her background in nursing, prefers a holistic and integrative approach to mental health care that addresses the mind and body together. While Ms. Woodland provides medication management services in all her patients, she believes in long-lasting solutions that include a number of psychotherapies, namely cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure and response prevention therapy, attention to lifestyle, evidenced based alternative psychiatric care and spirituality. If you’d like to gain control over your mental health issues, call Hope Mental Health at 208-918-0958, or use the online scheduling tool to set up an initial consultation.