Sleep Science: As Related To Alcohol And Substance Abuse

By Travis Nevels

As an alcohol and substance abuse counselor, I've found that most of my clients do not get enough quality sleep. And, the truth is most people in the general population don't get good sleep. In this book are several easy to understand charts that show you exactly how drugs and alcohol affect your sleep. I'll discuss what you can do to improve your sleep without relying on modern pharmaceuticals, over the counter sleep aids, prescription drugs, and even melatonin, all of which usually leads to Rebound Insomnia. This book is easy to understand and easy to read.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483536064

Book preview

9781483536064

Prologue

As an alcohol and substance abuse counselor, I’ve found that most of my clients do not get enough quality sleep. And, the more I’ve studied sleep, the more I‘ve come to realize that most people in the general population don’t get good sleep. There are many reasons for poor sleep patterns, and I’m going to uncover some of those reasons for you, whether you’re dealing with alcohol or substance abuse or not. I’ll also address how sleep is altered as a result of alcohol and illicit drug use. Finally, I’ll discuss what you can do to improve your sleep without relying on modern pharmaceuticals, over the counter sleep aids, prescription drugs, and even melatonin, all of which do not present a long term solution for quality sleep and usually leads to Rebound Insomnia.

The Circadian Rhythm

Before we talk about sleep we need to discuss the Circadian Rhythm, which is the 24 cycle our body goes through every day. All life on this planet has evolved over billions of years. Whether we evolved on our own or through some guided design is beyond the scope of this book. For our purposes it is important to know that all life evolved under the influence of a unique system of planets in our solar system and our one sun. The earth, based on its interaction with the gravitational pull from the moon and the sun, and somewhat from the other planets, gives our planet a 24 hour day. All life has learned that there is sunlight for a portion of the day and then there is darkness, or moonlight. Some plants and animals have evolved to be more active during the day while others are more active at night. Those plants and animals active at night at are called nocturnal.

Animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, and humans are regulated by their own Circadian Rhythm. Many plants know when the sun is up and they open up their flowers and leaves to