Running out of alcohol on a family camping trip in the middle of the mountains used to be my biggest nightmare.
Not because I couldn’t live without a few nights of “good time,” but because I’d miss the “good night’s sleep.”
Many daily drinkers I work with have found themselves held back by what I call the nightcap loop.
To put it simply: the more someone turns to alcohol for help with sleep, the more their body and mind come to depend on it.
Without alcohol, our brain naturally releases calming chemicals to help us wind down in the evening.
With alcohol’s “help,” our brain starts outsourcing its job.
So when we suddenly remove alcohol’s depressant effect, the body gets thrown off rhythm.
It’s like a bakery that outsourced its dough-making—when the deliveries suddenly stop, it takes a few days to dust off the old mixers and get the dough rising again.
The good news is that our body is incredible at adapting.
Within a couple of weeks, the circadian rhythm begins to reset.
In fact, many people start to fall asleep more easily after just five nights.
