Pre-Bed Booze May Effect Sleep.

People often turn to wine, beer or cocktails to unwind at the end of the day. These drinks might seem to be relaxing and to aid sleep. But research has shown that people who drink alcohol in the evenings actually get less REM sleep and have less restful nights.

Now a study demonstrates that late-night alcohol might decrease the amount of necessary overnight repair work that the body can do.

Subjects in the study drank strong, weak or alcohol-free beverages an hour-and-40-minutes before going to bed. The more booze the volunteers imbibed, the higher their overnight heart rate. These rapid beats were an indication that their bodies were not in the most productive rest mode, say the researchers. The work appears in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. [Yohei Sagawa et al., "Alcohol Has a Dose-Related Effect on Parasympathetic Nerve Activity During Sleep"]

The findings might help explain why those who frequently drink often suffer from insomnia at night and sleepiness during the day, as well as more long-term health effects.

So if you're looking for better, more healthful sleep, maybe avoid the nighttime nightcap.

—Katherine Harmon

Are strong people more prone to addictions?

Myers Counseling Group expert answer on Quora.com

There are no studies that support whether or not stronger people are more or less prone to addiction. There are many factors involved in more                            

Relapse Versus Return to Use

USING EPISODE

A using episode (either drug or alcohol) could be defined as either a relapse or return to use.  For the individual, it is possible that at some point they may move from one to another.  What helps distinguish the difference is prior to the using episode is how would they categorize themselves(relapse or return to use), and how they view the using episode after the fact.  It is common for a person to start building up to a change in commitment about being abstinent. For example, a week prior to use they are committed to avoiding use.  However, through a series of events, they change their commitment and use.  There are some areas listed below to help distinguish where a person may currently be in regards to abstaining from drug and alcohol use.

RELAPSE

Thoughts: “ I don’t want to use,” “I want to stop” “ my use is a problem,”  

Behaviors: Making an active commitment to avoid use, conscious of using situations.   

Motivation: High.  Does not want to use.

Attitude after use: “ I was making an effort to stop and messed up, “ I did not anticipate problems.”

Emotions after use: Feel guilty


DECISION TO USE

Thoughts: “Using is no problem,” I want to cut back but not stop,” “it is okay to use every now and then,” “my use is not a problem.”

Behaviors: No changes from when first using, actions geared more toward hiding use then stopping use.

Motivation: Low.

Attitude after use: “I got caught,” “ No big deal.”

Emotions after use: Irritated. Awkward

When an using episode occurs, it is important to evaluate where you see yourself. If you view yourself presently as seeing the episode as a relapse, effort would need to be focused on relapse prevention.  If you see yourself in the decision to use column, effort would be used to reexamining the costs and benefits to use, including what brought you into therapy in the first place.