How about low-risk drinking?

Your sleep won’t be impacted as much if you try low-risk drinking. You’ll also minimize the chance of other consequences from drinking.

What is low-risk drinking?

A major nationwide survey of 43,000 American adults indicated that only about 2 in 100 individuals are at risk of developing an alcohol problem if they meet both the single day and weekly drinking limits.

Source: Rethinking Drinking Alcohol and your Health, NIAAA

Keep in mind — Low-risk is not no risk. If you take medications that interact with alcohol, have a medical or psychological condition that is made worse by drinking, or are planning to drive, it is safest to avoid drinking.

How do you feel at different Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) levels?

A social drinker is a low-risk drinker. For the average social drinker, the effect of alcohol is directly related to BAC. The chart below shows the behavioral effects you can expect to experience at increasing BACs as a social drinker.

Choose your BAC
---0.020.040.060.080.100.150.200.250.30

Non-tolerant drinkers begin to feel effects (approximately 1 drink)

• Feel relaxed
• More talkative
• Less self-conscious
• Attention and reaction times begin to be impaired

• Social judgment impaired
• Lowered inhibitions

• Impaired fine muscle coordination (driving skills)
• Do things you wouldn’t do when sober
• Increased risk of nausea

• Slurred speech
• Significant deterioration of reaction time and muscle control

• Impaired balance and movement
• Vomiting may occur as a protective reaction (e.g., removal of toxic substance (alcohol) from system)

Memory blackout likely/loss of recall ability for events that occur while drunk

• Severe motor disturbances
• Sensory perceptions greatly impaired
• Semi-stupor

• Many people lose consciousness
• Risk of death

As you can see from the chart, a few drinks will make you feel good, but more drinks will make you feel worse not better. This is because alcohol has two major effects: a stimulating, or “up” phase and a sedating, or “down” phase. 

​What if you have a high tolerance level and can “hold your alcohol”?

Tolerance may disconnect your body from behavioral effects of BAC like impaired social judgment or physical reactions like vomiting, but it is still rising.  It becomes harder for you to know how high your BAC really is.

PASSING OUT IS NOT “PASSING OUT”

At a BAC of 0.30, we note that many people lose consciousness. This is not the same as the common expression of “passing out” (i.e., falling asleep very quickly). Instead, it is a risk of death that involves your body slowing down respiration, heart rate, digestion and being unable to sustain conscious activity.  Also, if you were to vomit, you would be at-risk for choking and not being aware of it.

A recent nation-wide survey of 5,170 young adults found 21% of men and 24% of women reported not drinking at all.

Those who did drink reported an average of 4 (men) and 3 (women) drinks per episode

Compare the average number of drinks you have

Source: National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, NIAAA

Now think about all the sleep behaviors we’ve discussed today

Are any of these getting in the way of your sleep? Which ones?

How could you take them out of your sleep routine?

How does having a good sleep routine help your sleep quality?

• A consistent, scheduled routine helps regulate your sleep drive so that you are ready at your preferred time of sleep. Without it, you may have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep despite being tired because your internal body clock is disrupted.

This box and the next few boxes will discuss the components for establishing a good sleep routine.

What are the key components of a good sleep routine?

1) Consistent bed-time AND wake-time: try to stay within an hour of that time every night and morning, including weekends.

• Bed-time: The best schedule is one that allows you to go to bed when you are most likely sleepy and to awaken when you have had enough sleep. Think back over your history of sleep, when have you generally found it best to go to bed?
• Wake-time: When do you feel best getting up in the morning? It may help to figure out your optimal wake-time and then, based on that, determine your bed-time by subtracting the 8-9 hours from there.

2) Optimal sleep length: Ideally, you should plan to sleep for 7-9 hours per night, consistent with recommended sleep guidelines for young adults.

For example: In this scenario, your bed time is 11:00pm and your wake-time is 7:00am. There is half an hour on either side of those times that you could fall asleep and wake up at while still maintaining your sleep routine (from 10:30-11:30pm and 6:30-7:30am).

A consistent bed-time and wake-time are not the only components of a good sleep routine. Your sleep/wake behaviors before bed time and during the day are also important factors.

3) Regular nighttime rituals:

• Develop a sleep ritual with 30-60 minutes prior to bed-time to “wind down” by engaging in comfortable activities that help you decompress and focus on sleep (e.g. read a magazine/book, listen to music, meditate, take a warm shower).
• This ritual can help to quiet the body by reducing the physiological arousal of being awake.
• If you are tired before your bed-time, take measures to stay awake.     

4) Limit technology:

• Light from LED screens (e.g. laptop, smartphone, tablet, TV) tricks the sleep timer into thinking it’s daytime instead of time to sleep.
• Sounds from these devices (e.g. alerts text messages) disrupt sleep as well.
• Even if you sleep through these disturbances, they can make your sleep less restorative by shifting from deeper to lighter sleep.

5) Smart napping:

• ​Napping can help you feel more alert and recover from a poor night’s sleep. The benefits of napping can be maximized by
  • ​Having a brief, recharge sleep of 20-45 minutes OR going through a full sleep cycle of 90 minutes.
  • Not sleeping too long to avoid disrupting your sleep clock. Naps should not exceed 90 minutes OR end later than 5pm.
  • Trying to nap at the same time like your bed-time and wake-time
  • Planning to engage in some invigorating activity after your nap and getting up right away to avoid napping too long.

6)  Time management:

• Sleep is often the first thing to get neglected when life is busy. To avoid being up late at night or all night working, plan ahead and avoid the temptation to underestimate the time things will take.
• Minimize distractions. Consider distraction-blocking apps to help you stay on task.
• Limit phone use and other technology. Schedule phone calls.
• Break tasks down into smaller, manageable chunks. Then develop a plan to complete each chunk.
• Set up rewards contingent on task completion to stay motivated.
• Use timers to set up blocks of work.

7) How to handle being awake in bed if you can’t fall asleep: 

• Get out of bed after 20-30 minutes so that you do not associate being in bed with being awake and potentially stressed.
• Engage in a non-stimulating, relaxing activity (e.g. reading).
• Limit light exposure – remain in dim light and away from LED light and the lights of electronic devices.
• Limit food and fluid intake.
• Avoid substance use (i.e. alcohol).

Sources:

1. Sleep and Sleep Disorders. Tips for Better Sleep, CDC. 
2. Sleep Education. Healthy Sleep Habits, American Alliance for Healthy Sleep (AASM). 
3. Sleep: An Important Health and Safety Concern at Work, CDC. 
4. Your Guide to Healthy Sleep, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.