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This Is What Alcohol Does To Your Dreams—According To A Sleep Doctor

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A defining line from Sigmund Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams wisely recognizes that, “Dreams are never concerned with trivia.”

Have you ever experienced a night of restless sleep, erratic dreams and a heap of exhaustion following an evening of drinking? Karen Lee, MD, a board-certified neurologist and sleep medicine specialist at NYU Langone, knows why.

Dr. Lee specializes in treating people with sleep disorders. In addition to studying poor quality sleep and neurological conditions, Dr. Lee frequently counsels patients on the reasons that sleep, or as Shakespeare referred to it, the “chief nourisher in life’s feast,” can elude many drinkers.

“A lot of people use alcohol as a sedative or a hypnotic, but it is not effective for sleeping.” While many may attest that a glass of cognac or two before bed assists with initially falling asleep, the alcohol’s power does not linger. The waning potency leads to subsequent waking, and other psychoactive and physical detriments. The reason why many people are confused by alcohol’s sedation effects, Dr. Lee told me, is because of the drug’s minuscule half-life. Its immediate effects are apparent, but rapidly dwindle. As the impacts wear off, the rebound creates more wakefulness. “Alcohol’s half-life is very short. If it were consistently infused into your system throughout the night, it may be a more helpful and lasting sedative.” But an I.V. of alcohol, of course, is not something Dr. Lee ever recommends for sleep, or for otherwise. “The big picture is, alcohol consumption leads to awakening throughout the night. A lot of the sleep is interrupted and you wake up restless.”

Imbibing before bedtime is also known to exacerbate a common condition: obstructive sleep apnea. Dr. Lee explained how alcohol relaxes the upper airways and makes it more likely for your airway to collapse during sleep. When there is already an underlying breathing condition or undiagnosed sleep apnea, Dr. Lee described drinking before bed as, “Adding fuel to a fire.”

Aside from daytime sleepiness and decreased focus, many drinkers report vivid or disruptive dreams following a nightcap. Dr. Lee attributed these experiences to interrupted dream cycles while your body is metabolizing evening beverages. “You’ll always know what a dream is if you wake up at that exact moment, interrupting the dream. Otherwise, you go into another sleep cycle, passing through dreams without any memory of them. Because alcohol will fragment your sleep, there are more chances you’ll wake up and have vivid recall.

But at times, there is still a psychological aspect involved with an evening of excess and the bizarre dreams that often follow. Frequently, drinkers report haunting or evocative dreams, like a vivid encounter with a past love. “During sleep, the body is trying to gather information from its environment and make it interpretable in the mind. For example, if your bed partner brushes up against your foot, you may dream of spiders crawling on your feet,” Dr. Lee explained. “Your body is trying to make sense of what you’re experiencing, so if you’ve become particularly emotional during a night of drinking, those thoughts and emotions can seep into the content of your dreams.”

And while extreme reactions to responsible alcohol consumption during sleep are considered uncommon, varying responses are unpredictable and can be ruinous for the day that lies ahead. So for those who often feel haunted by puzzling and intense dreams or excessive daytime sleepiness, alcohol may be the answer you’re looking for — or perhaps, the absence of it is.