Link Found Between Past Alcoholism, Poor Sleep
October 7th, 2009

There are many adverse symptoms, both psychological and somatic, associated with alcohol abuse, and those in recovery often find themselves struggling with the inherent challenges. However, a study recently published in the journal Sleep suggests that even those who have been abstinent for years may still suffer from insufficient sleep. The study examined the sleep patterns and behaviors of a range of recovered alcoholics as well as a control group, and found that those with a history of alcoholism were far less likely to achieve deep, uninterrupted sleep than their counterparts with “regular” histories. The results may indicate that even after alcohol abuse is conquered, cognitive difficulties may still persist, requiring a greater attention to physical and psychological care.
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Although this find may be true for some individuals, its not quite right in my own case. I’ve always had sleeping problems but have never been into alcohol… interesting but study results should never be taken as general…
When a person consumes a lot of alcohol, his metabolism rate decreases and hence the necessary biological conditions for sleep are not adequate and am not surprised to know that alcoholics suffer from sleep disorders.
My mother is a recovering alcoholic and now an insomniac. When she drank the alcohol would make her mean and then knock her out cold for hours at a time. Now I guess she does not have that to depend on so most nights she is up pacing the floor for hours. I guess she did so much damage to her nervous system with all of her years of alcohol abuse that some wires have never reconnected.
Yes consumption of alcohol will hamper the sleep patern.When someone consume alcohol he used to sleep because of the effect of the alcohol but in the long run it craetes a lot of problem not only sleeping disorder but some life taking disease like cancer.Teens use to drink alcohol by the influence of their peer group.And they use to take wrong dicision. Some of the institute help those teens by providing wilderness therapy programs.
Consuming alcohol in large quantities and regularly surely has a negative effect on an individual biologically and the finding of this study should be publicized as much as possible so that people try and quit the habit, which is sure to hamper their normal lives.
Acholic drinks are used as sleep-stimulants by many a person… this is a very bad and prolonged habit, which has negative effects even after the habit has been dumped… The person, after having quit on drinking realizes that now he/she has no support system to induce sleep…thereby causing insomnia… Thus, this habit should never be adopter and if done, the person should be brought out of it as soon as possible.
Drinking may relieve a person of worries and tension i the short term but gives a million problems in the long term, both biologically and psychologically… insomnia is observed in many people who have had a history of drinking.
This is just one of the ill-effects of the vice of alcoholism…it just wrecks havoc, not only in the lives of the addicts but also in the lives of their families. Proper counselling should be offered at de-addiction centres.
How can a person have proper sleep if he is devoid of something that he has been using for a lot of time and was maybe even addicted to it… this is the exact case with past alcoholics experiencing sleeping disorders and even insomnia. Controlled de-addiction combined with help in living without alcohol should be offered to addicts.
My partner is a recovered alcoholic and can’t sleep a whole night through. He’s not had a drink in almost twenty years. He gets up at least three or four times every night and spends the rest of it tossing and turning. We are both exhausted by morning. The possibly of there being any link to his old habit dismays me. Addiction is always in the background.
Sometimes I wonder why alcohol is legal at all. Look at all of the ways that it can screw somebody up, and yet it is readily available to anyone who can show the proper I.D. Does that make too much sense? There are other ways to celebrate- all roads do not have to lead to alcohol, and yet those that do typically lead to poor judgement calls and resulting health effects that are going to be around to plague people for years to come. I know that people are going to make their own decisions about what to do with their lives but I still find it hard to believe that with all of the negative issues that surround drinking, even in a social manner, that people would still choose to make alcohol a part of their lifestyle. I am not a Bible thumper, just someone who is being realistic about wanting to take care of my health and that of my family. I would never encourage anyone to have a drink, even if it is for just a little fun, because you just never know what the end results will be.
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