No one can live without any sleep . Two thirds of the population sleep an average of 7 ½ hrs per day. Some require more or less sleep. How much sleep we need depends on.
Genetics
Our overall state of health
Whether we are ill as sleep aids recovery from illness by actively suppressing infection.
As well when we are ill we sleep more
Age; as you grow older you generally need less sleep

What About Too Little Sleep:

Too little sleep causes a lack of concentration and poor judgment
We risk accidental injury especially when driving or operating machinery
Decision making is impaired
We make more frequent mistakes
Irritability increases
Memory loss increases
Depression and Stress are increased
The immune system is weakened as fewer white blood cells are produced
We are more at risk to infections and the recovery time from infections or injury is increased

How Alcohol Affects Sleep

Generally alcohol taken near bedtime reduces the time required to fall asleep . However this effect is short lived as sleep is disrupted and return to sleep is difficult. Periods of wakefulness and light sleeping often occur after this disruption. The adverse effects of sleep deprivation are increased following alcohol consumption increasing the danger that sleepiness and alcohol consumption may co-occur.

Among Alcoholics the effects on sleep are:

Increased time required and more difficulty in getting to sleep
Frequent awakening after getting to sleep
Poor overall Sleep quality

Recovery and Relapse with Alcohol

Even after years of abstinence sleep patterns may never return to normal
It is common for periods of wakefulness to occur making sleep less restorative
Daytime fatigue is common

Sleep and Cocaine
After continued use the euphoric effect of cocaine is replaced by
Restlessness
Extreme excitability
Insomnia
Paranoia
As if this were not enough severe confusion resulting from exhaustion due to lack of sleep impairs judgment and makes continued use a risk. Obviously the above symptoms are increased by the level of drug and alcohol abuse, as well as the length of the drug addiciton. One of the major goals of going to a drug rehab is to allow the establishment of a normal sleep pattern. This is absolutely essential to relapse prevention and continued sobriety.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 10th, 2005 at 2:47 pm and is filed under Drug Addiction, Drug Rehab. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.