The earliest publication of the impacts of alcohol on sleep can be dated back to 1883 when Monninghof and Piesbergen conducted an observational study of sleep depth in response to alcohol and exercise. Following their investigation, they found that with the consumption of alcohol, the relative soundness of sleep was less than when no exercise or alcohol was consumed prior to the sleep period. They also found that when larger doses of alcohol were given, the sleep was much sounder in the beginning and more disruptive later. Though almost over 130 years ago now, these observations still remain relevant to sleep science today.
Since then, extensive literature has been produced which has described alcohol’s effects on the sleep of healthy, non-alcoholic individuals. Many studies found that in non-alcoholics who occasionally consume alcohol, both high and low doses of alcohol initially improve sleep. However, high alcohol doses can result in sleep disturbances during the second half of sleep period. This is consistent with Monninghof and Piesbergen. Interestingly, studies have also found that individuals can rapidly develop tolerance to the sedative effects of alcohol, which can result in individuals consuming more as they develop a tolerance.
Studies which also looked into alcohol’s impact on daytime sleepiness found that alcohol interacts with sleep deprivation and sleep restriction to exacerbate daytime sleepiness and alcohol-induced performance impairments. Alcohol’s effects on other physiological functions in sleep have yet to be documented thoroughly.
You can ready more in-depth into the effect of alcohol on sleep in following:
- Ebrahim, I. O., Shapiro, C. M., Williams, A. J., & Fenwick, P. B. (2013). Alcohol and sleep i: Effects on normal sleep. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 37(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.12006
- He, S., Hasler, B. P., & Chakravorty, S. (2019). Alcohol and sleep-related problems. Current Opinion in Psychology, 30, 117–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.03.007
- Roehrs, T., & Roth, T. (2001). Sleep, sleepiness, sleep disorders and alcohol use and abuse. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 5(4), 287–297. https://doi.org/10.1053/smrv.2001.0162
