BBC reports that drinking alcohol before sleeping can help sleep, but it disrupts the natural sleep-wake cycles. As stated by the London Sleep Centre, alcohol reduces the duration of sleep and causes a deep sleep. However, it disrupts the cycle of “fast” sleep, which is an important period for recreation and the time when we see dreams. Alcohol is not only addictive, but it also leads to the suppression of the natural rhythms in the brain that accompany dreaming and are a condition of the sleep quality.
Having studied 20 cases in detail, Dr. Irshaad Ebrahim concluded that alcohol affected three aspects of sleep:
- it helped fall asleep faster,
- it caused a very deep sleep,
- it violated the “fast” phase of sleep, which is accompanied by rapid eye movements and is the most productive time for having rest and restoring normal psychophysiological human activity.
Experts believe that alcohol in general can not be a soporific: deep sleep may occur during an early stage, but then the sleep becomes disturbed. In addition, such a deep sleep can cause snoring and apnea.
