How Does Alcohol Affect Our Dreams?
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You’ve had a couple glasses of wine and start dozing off on the couch. You make your way to your bed, hit the lights, and conk out as soon as your head hits the pillow. After several hours, however, you start to stir. You spend the rest of the night drifting in and out of sleep, hopping from one vivid, bizarre dream to another. What’s going on?
What is the connection between alcohol and dreams, and alcohol and nightmares in particular? Does alcohol cause nightmares? And why do we dream of drinking alcohol? In this post, we’ll explore how dreaming works, why dreams are important, and how alcohol affects our dreaming life. We’ll also offer some tips to get a good night’s rest. Let’s get started!
Before we dive into how alcohol affects our dreams, it’s helpful to understand what happens when we dream. It’s pretty remarkable! Some of us wake up having absolutely no recollection of what transpired during our sleep, while others wake up remembering our dreams in vivid detail — so much so that they can sometimes be hard to shake.
Dreaming is a natural part of our sleep cycle. In fact, whether or not we remember our dreams, just about everyone dreams every time they sleep — for a total of around two hours per night.
Over the course of the night, we go through four to six complete sleep cycles, each of which is composed of four individual stages; each complete cycle takes about 90 minutes. Stages 1 and 2 are considered “light sleep,” as our body begins to relax and brain activity begins to slow. Stage 3 is referred to as “delta sleep” or “slow-wave sleep,” as our brain activity during this period follows the pattern of delta waves.
The fourth stage of sleep is known as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which usually accounts for about 25% of our sleep time. We can tell someone is in REM when their eyes are moving rapidly under their eyelids, which is how this stage gets its name.
While dreaming can occur during any stage of sleep, it’s most prevalent and intense during REM sleep. Interestingly, dreams that happen during non-REM and REM sleep tend to show different patterns. REM dreams are typically more vivid, immersive, or bizarre; non-REM dreams tend to involve more coherent content that involves thoughts or memories grounded in a specific time and place.
When we wake up and say, “I had a really weird dream,” it probably occurred during REM sleep. The reason for this is largely due to the heightened brain activity. In fact, sleep studies show that brain waves are almost as active during REM cycles as they are when we’re awake. During REM sleep, there is more activity in the visual, motor, emotional and autobiographical memory regions of the brain. However, there’s also decreased activity in other regions, like the ones involved in rational thought — which is the reason for our nonsensical dreams.
The different sleep stages and their dreams are fascinating, but why do we even dream in the first place? Do our dreams serve a purpose, or are they just random occurrences?
Sleep experts, psychologists, and neuroscientists continue to debate the purposes of dream, but there are some leading theories:
Furthermore, some studies have looked into the importance of dreams to our health and well-being. One study found that those who weren’t allowed to dream had more tension, anxiety, depression, difficulty concentrating, and weight gain, compared to those who experienced REM sleep.
The bottom line is that despite advancing scientific knowledge, there are still many unknowns about the underlying mechanism and functions of dreams. What scientists do know, however, is that REM sleep is one of the most important stages of sleep for our physical and mental restoration. It’s especially important for cognitive functions, such as memory consolidation, emotional processing, learning, and creativity. In fact, REM sleep deprivation interferes with memory formation and can impact our mood and mental focus. Lack of REM sleep can even weaken our immune system, blocking the growth of new healthy cells and tissue in the body.
So where does alcohol fit into the picture, and what is the link between alcohol and dreams? Many people might assume that alcohol helps us sleep better — after all, it’s not unusual to get sleepy after having a beer, cocktail, or glass of wine. This sleepiness is largely because alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, slowing brain activity and making it easier to nod off.
However, alcohol actually suppresses REM sleep — the stage that promotes restoration and vivid dreaming. So when we first fall asleep, we’ll spend most of our time in slow-wave sleep or “light sleep.” Interestingly, many people report wild, vivid dreams after consuming alcohol. But wait — if alcohol suppresses REM, and REM is the stage where we vividly dream, how can drinking cause vivid dreaming? Good question! It all comes down to what happens after we’ve been asleep for several hours.
As alcohol continues to be metabolized in our body throughout the night, its sedative effects wear off, resulting in shorter sleep duration and more sleep disruptions. This is why we tend to wake up frequently in the second half of the night after drinking.
Once this occurs, REM is no longer suppressed, and our brain starts to go through a “REM rebound.” In other words, our brain compensates for the lack of REM sleep by boosting the duration of REM sleep and increasing the ease at which we enter this stage.
However, since alcohol causes us to wake up more frequently, we can often recall our vivid dreams in detail. In other words, we’re likely to remember a dream if we wake up as it occurs. Otherwise, we’ll go into another sleep cycle, passing through dreams without any memory of them. Because alcohol fragments our sleep, there are more chances we’ll wake up and have vivid recall.
Yes, the disruption of sleep is especially conducive to nightmares. For one thing, they tend to be more vivid, so we might recall them more easily when they happen. The withdrawal effect that happens during the night as alcohol leaves our bodies also tends to contribute to nightmares in particular. For some, the psychological effects of drinking, including heightened emotions or stress, may also contribute to more frequent nightmares.
Furthermore, according to sleep experts, alcohol doesn’t just affect our sleep the night we’ve been drinking; it can also affect us the following night. Because alcohol disrupts our sleep, our body tries to spend more time in REM sleep the following night in order to make up for the time lost. The more time we spend in REM, the more active our brain becomes, contributing to bizarre, intense dreams. This is why people may experience vivid dreams the night after drinking.
In general, alcohol disrupts our sleep cycle and reduces our overall quality of sleep by limiting the amount of time we spend in REM. And even just a couple of drinks can have a negative effect. For instance, one study found that having fewer than two servings of alcohol per day for men or one serving per day for women decreased sleep quality by nearly 10 percent.
As for “alcohol dreams” specifically — ones where we find ourselves drinking, especially if we’re trying to cut back or quit — what’s going on there?
Alcohol isn’t the only thing that influences our sleep cycle. Here’s a closer look at 4 factors that can affect our dream life and sleep quality:
We often don’t give a lot of thought to how certain things affect the content of our dreams or the quality of our sleep. But these four factors play a vital role, and we should look into them if we find ourselves struggling with sleep.
Besides limiting our alcohol consumption or eliminating it entirely, certain activities can help promote restful REM sleep. Here are 5 tips:
When we first fall asleep, alcohol suppresses REM, which is the stage of sleep that promotes vivid dreaming. However, as it’s metabolized out of our body, we may experience vivid dreams in the latter half of the night as our brain tries to compensate for lack of REM sleep. Because alcohol causes us to wake up more frequently in the second half of the night, we may recall more dreams than we would if we hadn’t consumed alcohol. REM sleep is vital for our physical and mental restoration, so it’s important to do everything we can to promote it. We can do this by developing a sleep routine, going to bed and waking up at the same time, practicing relaxation techniques, unplugging from technology, and creating an optimal sleep environment.
If you’re using alcohol to help you sleep, consider trying Reframe. We’re a neuroscience-backed app that has helped millions of people reduce their alcohol consumption and get a better night’s rest.
1. How do dreams work?
Dreaming is a natural part of our sleep cycle. While dreaming can occur at any stage of sleep, it’s most prevalent and intense during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
2. Why do we dream?
Experts continue to debate whether dreams serve a purpose. Some theories suggest that dreaming helps us consolidate memories, process emotions, or prepare us for challenges.
3. How does alcohol affect our dreams?
Alcohol suppresses REM sleep in the beginning of the night. However, as it’s metabolized out of our body, we may experience vivid dreams in the latter half of the night as our brain tries to make up for lack of REM sleep. Similarly, because alcohol causes us to wake up more frequently, we may experience more dream recall than we would if we hadn’t consumed alcohol.
4. What other things influence our dream life?
Stress can seep its way into our dreams, causing us to experience stress dreams. Similarly, if we struggle with anxiety or depression, we may have more distressing dreams. Furthermore, we’re likely to experience more vivid dreams if we haven’t slept for a prolonged period of time.
5. How can we get more REM sleep?
Developing a sleep routine, going to bed and waking up at the same time, practicing relaxation techniques, unplugging from technology, and creating an optimal sleep environment can help promote restorative rest.
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