Quite a number of patients resort to drinking alcohol in an attempt to overcome their problem with the initiation of sleep.
No doubt, after drinking alcohol, one can usually fall asleep much faster. The chief drawback is that alcohol leads to sleep fragmentation, which means that the person may wake up after every 2 to 3 hours and, hence, it is harder for him to get into a deep sleep. Deep sleep is important for tissue repair and rest. Alcohol also suppresses REM sleep, which is important for memory consolidation. Beer is a diuretic, so many people may wake up to pass urine, and for many persons, it is harder to get back to sleep after that.
Many individuals have reported that when they subsequently chose to stop alcohol, their dreams become more vivid. In terms of sleep physiology, what is happening here is REM rebound (as alcohol suppressed REM sleep earlier on when the person is drinking). However, REM rebound is temporary and is not an excuse for the person to return to alcohol.
