Carol

As some who gets hangovers lasting a week, Carol never drank too much - Once she got to a sensible age! However as a patient with an auto immune illness, since she was a teenager she has to drink very little. So she really understands how Irish society makes this very difficult. Carol is responsible for all aspects of Lifewise operations that Valerie and Angela do not cover.

Posts by Carol

Are you a modern alcoholic?

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Personal stories, The big picture

Ann Dowsett Johnson describes herself as the poster girl for  the modern alcoholic. A new term which is becoming very popular. Even though we think calling  people  “alcoholics” creates stigma, we thought we’d better explain the term.

 

What is a modern alcoholic?

To-day, the modern alcoholic is female.  She  is well educated.  She is  professional. She is what the health care professionals call “high functioning”, able to complete the normal activities of daily life.

Previously it was thought you had to reach “rock bottom”  to be an alcoholic. In other words you had to lose everything important in your life to be an alcoholic.  Many  people think  an alcoholic  is a poor, homeless person in rags,  sitting on the park bench drinking cans or cheap wine from a brown paper bag.

 

A high bottom?

But to-day’s modern alcoholic has a “high bottom”. They are  working, volunteering, looking after children, supporting elderly  parents, shopping,  gardening, driving, maintaining relationships, doing housework, socialising, keeping fit.  Often they are under so much pressure, being the person who holds the whole family together  they cope by drinking too much. If you drink more than the recommended limits of 11 standard drinks (roughly 2 bottles of wine  per week) , you may be a “modern alcoholic”

 

Women catching up on men’s drinking

There is a worldwide trend that the richer the country, the more likely it is there will be an alcohol abuse problem. Part of this trend is women  start catching up on men’s drinking. Men’s drinking is staying the same or even going down a little. Women’s drinking is going up.  In her books,  Ann describes how alcohol is the modern woman’s steroid. It helps us to get through all the activities we have to complete in our very busy lives.

 

Marketing is targeting woman

Most social events you go to, you’ll now be asked red or white? It’s hipster to drink. While we have  stricter voluntary regulation of alcohol advertising than America, we are still awash in alcohol marketing. Young people are being targeted though social media at a much younger age, with age restrictions ignored. Alcopops anyone? The younger you are when you start drinking, the more likely it is you will have problems with alcohol.

 

Ann Dowsett Johnson

I heard Ann speak at last year’s Alcohol Action Ireland conference. She’s a  entertaining speaker, with humour and emotion. You can see her TED  talk viewed by over 100,000 people  here. It’s well worth watching.

We’ve mentioned Soberistas before. It’s a discussion board for people abusing alcohol

Tomorrow night at 8pm  they have a webinar -an online discussion with Ann and it will be well worth watching. She’ll talk about how to get through the Summer without drinking too much. You can sign up here (You must be a paying member)

 

Worried about your drinking?

If you’d like to find out if your drinking is a problem you can watch our short video here or  take our 3 quick steps.

You can avoid the Euro hangover

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Social Life, The big picture

Reading the papers last  weekend the European football championships appears to be about drinking. Very little about avoiding the inevitable euro hangover, be it watching too much football,  drinking too much, or  being miserable if Ireland  get hammered (That 6-1 defeat to Germany still hurts)

 

Women  like  football too

And yes women play, watch and attend football too- it’s not just the men. Anyone remember Stephanie Roche’s wonder goal? The photo above shows Stephanie walking up to receive her 2nd place prize for the goal of the year-watched admiringly by Ronaldo and Messi . You can see her wonder goal watched by over one million people  here.  Stephanie currently plays for the Sunderland ladies team in England.

 

Is there too much focus on alcohol in football?

Yes, is the answer. Some quotes from just one newspaper edition.

“Because most of us who will be there probably won’t be able to remember much about it at all”

“Being among the Irish crowd confirms that football is the best excuse for the true national sport of drinking”

“So why should the manager of the Irish football team be expected to tell his players they can’t have a drink?”

“However drunk you get, Irish fans don’t go there”

“France is the last chance for this drinking generation to mass on a foreign field and create fresh memories”

Maybe some of these quotes are ironic, tongue in cheek, but we are surrounded by messages that tell us drinking is part of our DNA and it’s ok to be drunk. Not only that, but people who don’t drink are seen as boring.

 

“People say I have a very boring life, but I don’t think I have”

This quote is from Jim Ryan, a retired Garda from Cork who first started travelling to  sports events in 1976 and has travelled to Cyprus, Nigeria, Bulgaria attending three Olympics, hockey world cups, grand nationals and much more. He does n’t drink, smoke or gamble, spending the  money saved on travelling.

Because of this people say he has a boring life. A guy who has travelled all over the world following sports championships, making new friends, visiting exotic places. Experiencing life, not just  not sitting on a bar stool in a pub!  Yet he’s seen as the boring guy.

In the same newspaper (Irish Times) 6 famous fans told their memories of past football championships and none of them mentioned drinking.  So why are the media so strong on drinking as part of football?

 

Alcohol industry big sponsors

Of course, the alcohol industry encourage this focus on drinking as exciting and alluring.  They provide lots of revenue for the media in advertising. Carlsberg are sponsors of the Euro championship itself, with Heineken sponsors of the FAI.  Sales of alcohol will soar during the championships. In one survey, people estimated they will spend €185 on alcohol during the tournament. Carling are very clear on their marketing aims

“To own sociability is to dominate the booze market”

So the Euro’s are a big target for alcohol companies as people get together to watch the football games and socialise. They have succeeded in making us believe that getting together  for a football event means we have to drink and have the nearly inevitable  Euro hangover.

 

The dark side of drinking

Little attention is paid to the dark side of drinking. Due to previous alcohol fuelled violence, French police have banned public drinking for the 24 hours around each football match in Lens.   In Ireland, 30 per cent of emergency room visits are alcohol-related – and every month 88 Irish people die from drinking. This compares to 14 people a month from road traffic accidents. But the media coverage  does not show this dark side of alcohol abuse.

 

Avoid the Euro hangover

So make sure you’re not one of these statistics.  If you’re  drinking, plan your drinking so you don’t end up with a Euro hangover. Despite what the media and alcohol companies say it  is  possible to enjoy the championships without drinking at all  like Jim Ryan or drinking  too much. We have plenty of free practical tips you can check out  here.

Finally best of luck to the Irish team and here’s hoping we all get a lift from their performances.

PS

If you’d like to know more on how the alcohol industry influences us, check out this post here.

What is your safe drinking limit?

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Physical health, Practical tips, The big picture

Would n’t it  be lovely to know just how much drinking is safe drinking.   There’s  plenty of debate around this. Some of which we’ve found  very confusing.
To make matters worse, the language is all really technical from safe drinking, low risk, units to standard drinks. So we did some international research and spoke to the HSE, the Irish Government Health care provider to try and make it simple. This is what they all said.

 

There is no safe drinking

The latest evidence says there is no safe drinking. Earlier studies showing there are health benefits from a glass of wine a day have been reviewed and some of the results are now seen as wrong.  Also the health benefits found  can be obtained in less risky ways by changing your diet.  So leading experts are  saying there is no safe drinking limit.  So now it’s all about “low risk” drinking using  “standard drinks”.

 

What are standard drinks?

Different drinks have different levels of alcohol or ethanol to give the proper name. This can range from 5% in  some beers or 40% in some vodkas.  So to avoid comparing apples with oranges, drinks are now  described as standard drinks measured using ethanol per 10 grams.  I’ll come back to this in a future post. So now standard drinks are used to explain low risk drinking.

 

What is low risk drinking?

Low risk drinking for women is 11 standard drinks per week.  This is roughly about a large bottle of wine plus one of the quarter bottles you buy in the pub per week. (See picture below.)  For men low risk drinking is 17 units per week.

safe drinking
A low risk drinking week for women

 

 

We nearly had to be picked up off the floor

When we learned this, we nearly had to be picked off the floor. It seems so low.
Many women drink their weekly limit in a day or two.
You’re probably thinking sure everybody’s misusing alcohol at that rate.  And you’re absolutely right. According to the Health Research Board, more than half of us are misusing alcohol.

 

Why are these drinking limits so low?

You’re probably thinking if drinking is so dangerous it would n’t be such a big part of our lives, would it?
Well in the 1960’s, drinking was not such a big part of our lives.  On average every person drank around 5 litres. Now we drink around 11 litres per person. (See Alcohol Action Ireland website  here for details)  The really serious harm from this is now becoming  clearer.  However attitudes are changing and the majority of Irish people believe we need to reduce our drinking and change our attitudes.(See report here)

 

So you’re not alone

If you think you’re drinking too much and want to change your drinking, you’re not alone.  Why not check out our new video where Valerie explains how to drink in a way that reduces your risk of future harm and set your personal drinking limit.

 

PS Don’t give up, there’s good news!

Before you give up and run away, because this seems totally off the wall, there is some good news. Once you start reducing your drinking you start reducing the risks straight away. So you might not feel able for “low risk” drinking  but  there’s lots of little actions you can take to reduce possible harm.  Our free mini course with practical tips can help. Click here to start right away

Can an alcohol counsellor help you?

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Mental health, Practical tips, Professional help

 I talked in this post about  rehabs and promised to come back to how an alcohol counsellor may help. So first to explain some terms.

 

What is counselling & psychotherapy?

Counselling & Psychotherapy are words used to  describe  a range of talking therapies which is when you meet with a health care professional  (often known as therapist) who is specially trained to  help. Counselling usually involves committing to a series of regular sessions of about an hour in length over a period of time.

 

Is it easier to talk to a stranger?

Sometimes it is easier to talk to a stranger than to relatives or friends.  During counselling the therapist listens to you and helps you find your own answers to problems without judging you. The counsellor will give you time to talk, cry or just think without judging you.

 

You do not need to be in a crisis

You do not need to be in crisis to go to counselling, in the same way you might do a course to get a promotion or better job, counselling can be a form of self-development in order to lead a happier more productive life.  It can also help to maintain a sense of well-being whilst facing challenges in your life.  For example, caring for an elderly parent with Alzheimer’s can be very stressful. I’m in this situation and even though I have very supportive friends I find it really helpful to talk to a counsellor on a regular basis.

 

There are many different types of counsellors

There are many different types of counsellors/therapists with psychological training from clinical psychologists, occupational psychologists, to counselling psychologists, psychothera­pists to CBT counsellors and creative art therapists. Each of these is trained to treat your mental health problems in a different way and there is much discussion about which way is best. Some of these professionals will have gone through their own personal psychological therapy as part of their training, but others do not.

 

Do all counsellors treat alcohol misuse?

Because of the different types of training they receive alcohol and mental health issues are seen as two different problems. So many counsellors treat mental health issues only and not alcohol abuse issues. This does seem a little crazy as the research shows many people misusing alcohol have an underlying health problem such as anxiety or depression. You can find out more about this issue on this website here. (Note: Angela and I helped to co-found this website)

 

Do all alcohol counsellors help with mental health problems?

It depends on when and where they trained. Some alcohol counsellor training  courses follow the Alcohol Anonymous 12 step model and the alcohol counsellors are not trained to deal with other  mental health issues. Ideally it is best to choose a counsellor who is trained to treat both alcohol misuse and mental health issues.

 

Which alcohol counsellor is best for me?

Research shows  a good relationship with your psychologist or counsellor is the most important part of solving your problem.

You should make sure you feel comfortable and safe with your counsellor and you choose a therapist that supports you in setting your own treatment goals and uses a therapy that suits you.

 

Try to understand what you need

For example, you may have experienced bullying in school but never abused alcohol until you started experiencing anxiety as a result of a stressful work situation. So you may decide you wish to learn to manage your anxiety better, but do not wish to re-open the issue of your childhood bullying. A professional and ethical therapist will accept your decision and work with you on your anxiety only without passing judgement or attempting to re -open the childhood bullying issue as they will know this could be very damaging to you.

 

CBT therapy

CBT therapy can be very effective for anxiety and alcohol misuse and does not generally have to look at childhood issues. A therapist who uses only psychoanalytic therapies may tend to help by examining childhood issues. They may tend to focus on your childhood. So it is useful to know what type of approach the counsellor will use. A highly trained alcohol counsellor will use a mix of  therapy approaches as that way they are more likely to find an approach that suits you.

We’ll have a course on CBT soon, so if you’d like to know when it becomes available please click here.

In a future post, I’ll deal with selecting the right counsellor for you.

 

 

 

 

 

I gave myself a hangover headache

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Social Life, The big picture

My friends had organised a night out to celebrate my birthday.  I wanted to have a few beers in the new restaurant we were going to. So when  we went to a cocktail place first  I had a really nice non-alcoholic cocktail. My friends know I’m a lightweight when it comes to alcohol and can’t mix drinks so this was n’t a problem. They know I get bad hangover headaches even when I don’t drink too much.

 

My hangover headache lasts a week

We got to the restaurant which we were visiting for the first time. Great atmosphere, just one problem. They only had a wine license. No beer. This was really embarrassing for my friend who had thoughtfully organised the night out in my honour.  All my close friends know I can’t drink wine because I get a massive hangover headache the next day. Red wine is particularly bad. A nuisance in many ways, but I believe my hangover problem has stopped me from   having serious problems with alcohol. When your hangover problem lasts a week (yes, that’s my record) and makes you feel severely depressed with constant nausea & vomiting you tend to drink less.

But when I saw my friend’s upset face, that she had n’t checked the restaurant served beer I decided to have a glass of wine. Knowing I was only having a single glass,  I said go for the red wine.  My  friends prefer red wine. So good humour restored, we had a really  lovely  enjoyable night.

 

I gave myself a hangover headache

The following day, after just a glass of red wine, I had a hangover  headache which needed painkillers. I cursed myself for deciding to take the glass of red wine just so I would not  upset my friend. I had n’t even enjoyed it. If I’m being honest, knowing my friend, once she saw me enjoying myself, her upset would not have lasted long and the slagging would have started.  But like many women do, I went into people pleasing mode.

 

Why are n’t you drinking?

The following Friday, another big night out for a friends 50th birthday. (Yeah I’m at that stage now) I told another friend I could pick them up as I was driving. I was faced with a barrage of questions

“why are n’t you drinking”.

Because of the previous week’s lesson with the hangover headache, I did n’t go into people pleasing mode. That plus the fact I had a lot to do on the Saturday meant this time  I stood my ground.

But it really struck me. How much alcohol is part of our lives. I don’t think any of my friends have an alcohol misuse problem. None of us are heavy drinkers. Yet, even in this group, I find myself constantly justifying not drinking.

 

Why are n’t you using grass?

“Alcohol is the only drug in the world where, when you stop taking it, you are seen as having a problem. The only drug in the work that you have to justify not taking”. (From Jason Veale) Nobody ever asks you why you are n’t using grass or ecstasy when you go out. Yet the harm  of alcohol abuse far outweigh the harm of   these other  illegal drugs.

 

Should I just give up drinking?

Would it be easier if I just tell everybody I’m giving up drinking altogether?  But I do enjoy an occasional beer, particularly with a meal so why should I?

I think I’ll try out a few of those non-alcohol beers, Lucy recommends and then decide.

 

Social life can make it hard to reduce drinking

So if you’re thinking of reducing your drinking, it’s really important to consider your social life.

Does your social life involve getting together over a few drinks and nothing else?  For many of us Irish, that’s the entirety of our social life. So you may need to plan different social activities which don’t involve drinking.

 

We’ll have a course on this shortly so sign up here, if you’d like to know when it comes available.

 

 

 

Conor Mc Gregor Budweiser ad is banned

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The big picture

Yesterday, the advertising standards authority of Ireland  (ASAI) ruled the  Conor Mc Gregor Budweiser ad should be banned. Talk about closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

 

The Conor Mc Gregor Budweiser ad should never have aired

We went through the  6 reasons why the ad should be banned in detail in this post.  These range from the younger children are when they are exposed to alcohol marketing, the more likely they are to drink at a younger age, to linking drinking to success. The major reason is   Conor Mc Gregor is a role model for young people.  Even though he does not consume alcohol in the ad, the message in the ad is clear. It links consumption of Budweiser to achieving your big dreams like Conor has.  The ASAI have banned the ad on the grounds that Conor  is a role model to young people.

 

Voluntary regulation does not work

What this ad campaign shows is that voluntary regulation of  alcohol advertisements does not work. I understand  the marketing people had submitted the ad for pre-clearance to the industry watch dog known as Copy Clear.   This industry  agency  stated the ad complied with the voluntary code. Perhaps they would like to explain how they found the campaign was ok, when another non alcohol industry agency found otherwise?

 

The Mc Gregor Budweiser ad was very successful

After  the campaign’s  competition entry date has passed, the ad has now been banned. It appeared on most main TV channels, billboards and social media. It  featured on leading websites such as joe.ie and she.ie.  Interestingly Joe.ie  is leading a terrific  campaign to improve  our mental health.  The links between alcohol misuse and mental health problems is  well proven at this stage. Obviously though not widely  understood.

The ad  was  however  banned by RTE which in turn attracted even more publicity. Most people  felt RTE were wrong to ban the ad.  Commentary ranged from “nanny state” to  “hysterical”  to  “dreaming big banned in Ireland”. The reaction shows how far we have to go in understanding  both the role alcohol marketing has  in driving higher alcohol consumption and accepting we have a problem with alcohol.  Alcohol Action Ireland have done some great work here, explaining  how alcohol marketing works.

 

Another generation of young people groomed to become drinkers.

In the  1960’s we drank a lot less.  Just under 5 litres per person compared to the nearly 11 litres we drink now. While changing lifestyles is part of this, alcohol marketing is a big driver. One study of Irish  primary school children asked  what it means to be Irish. The vast majority of them replied drink was an essential part of being Irish.  Why is being Irish now associated with drinking?  We need to change this dangerous  belief and reducing children’s exposure to marketing will help.

 

Support the alcohol public health bill which will reduce alcohol marketing

We’re not anti  alcohol. We drink ourselves.  We just want to reduce the harm alcohol is doing to Irish  society. The human misery – the €3 billion in cost terms every single year. The research evidence shows regulating alcohol marketing  is part of the solution.

The proposed alcohol public health bill has already been watered down as a direct result of lobbying. It is not a high government priority.  If you’d like to tell your TD’s you support the bill, please click here.

Finally, If you’re interesting in top tips to reduce alcohol hangovers you might find this blog post or  free mini course useful

 

Rehab, when is it needed?

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Practical tips, Professional help, The big picture

Rehab means different things to  people. When my youngest daughter’s friends‘ parents started giving me funny looks. I realised, my daughter had said I was in rehab.  So the parents  thought my rehab was about alcohol.  It was actually rehab to help me walk again. Although I had not wanted to stay overnight it proved to be a good option because I was just so exhausted after  each day’s programmes. It also meant  nice  meals were served up to me . I slept well as I had a private room. All important issues if you’re considering a residential rehab.

The Parent’s reactions though really brought home to me the stigma  about  saying you  need help for alcohol misuse. That’s why our online courses are run on  first name or user name only.

 

Rehab is different depending on where you go.

In alcohol treatments rehab often  means staying in a residential treatment centre.   Different centres have different entry criteria and you stay there for different lengths of time.

For example, some centres insist you do not take medications such as anti-anxiety drugs.

Centres offer different treatments and have different approaches. Many centres operate a strict Alcoholics Anonymous 12 step approach based on not drinking at all.  These centres do not offer harm reduction approaches which help people to reduce their drinking to low risk limits.

Many centres do not deal with mental health issues such as depression. Now if alcohol is causing your depression that may not be a problem. But if you’re misusing alcohol because you are depressed then that service may not be helpful for you. A service which provides counselling to help you deal with your depression will be more useful.

In Ireland, there is no statutory regulation or monitoring of treatment centre  outcomes, so you will need to ask questions to make sure the treatment centre is right for you.

 

All people with an alcohol misuse problem need a residential rehab.

The notion that all people with an alcohol problem need a residential rehab is a myth. Research shows the majority of people abusing alcohol do not need a residential  treatment. Situations where a residential stay  may be useful include

  • Your life is totally chaotic and out of control
  • You need “protected”  time  from your usual responsibilities to focus  solely on your recovery
  • You’re a danger to yourself e.g.  actively suicidal, or consistent  drink driving
  • You’re unable to reduce your  problem drinking to low risk limits  despite  help from expert programmes
  • You have a significant mental illnesses which is not well controlled.  Confusingly in Ireland though, the majority of residential  centres do not accept people with mental illnesses.

A key thing to look for is support for when you leave the centre. Some centres offer this support which is often called “after care”. You may have to pay extra for this aftercare.

 

Do I need a residential rehab?

Whether you need a residential stay or not is really an individual decision, based on your needs and the services available in your area. Assuming the factors above do not apply to you, the following supports may be helpful

Educating yourself about alcohol misuse and how to reduce alcohol misuse. You can use the courses on this website or find a suitable community based programme on www.drugs.ie

Joining a peer support group which can be online or face to face meetings. For example our partner Soberistas  is an online group. Groups  such as  AA,   or  Life ring hold meetings in physical locations. Peer support groups do differ in how they operate. So find one that matches  your needs. It should support  both  your drinking goals and your  personality.

Coaching or counselling from an experienced or qualified counsellor can be helpful.  We’ll expand on this in a future post.

What do you think ? We’d love to hear your views in the comments below.

6 reasons to ban the Budweiser campaign

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The big picture

Budweiser and Conor Mc Gregor have put together a really impressive & creative campaign around “Dream Big”.

I really like the way he encourages people to dream big. It was filmed in Crumlin where I lived for a while and it was great to see Crumlin being seen in a positive light for a change. This Budweiser  campaign has been generating huge interest and is now also being targeted at women.

I was delighted however when RTE refused to screen it. Social media comment was very critical and there were accusations of “Nany state” “hysterical” and sure he is n’t even drinking in the ad.

Here are the reasons I believe the entire Budweiser campaign and all alcohol marketing should be banned.

 

1.Conor Mc Gregor is a role model for young people

Conor Mc Gregor is a role model to many young people and this ad is very appealing to them.  All the evidence shows the more exposure young people have to a brand the more likely they are to both start drinking and drink dangerously at a younger age. The younger you are when you start drinking the more likely you will have an alcohol misuse problem. Just seeing a brand name is enough, the drink itself does not have to be shown.  Click here  for the  evidence.

 

2.Young people are exposed to the Budweiser campaign

The Budweiser campaign is being heavily promoted on social media and young people are being exposed to the campaign even if they do not click through on the ads.

 

3.Linking success to Budweiser

Conor Mc Gregor’s success in achieving   his big dreams is now being linked to the Budweiser brand.  You too can achieve your big dreams if you drink  Budweiser and enter the competition. The irony is the more Budweiser (or any alcohol) you drink, the less your chances of achieving your big dreams.

 

4. Being Irish means drinking

One study of primary school children asked them what it means to be Irish. The vast majority of them replied drink was an essential part of being Irish. Yet in the 1960’s we drank just under 5 litres per person compared to the nearly 11 litres we drink now. Why is being Irish now associated with drinking?  We need to change this dangerous   belief and reducing children’s exposure to marketing will help.

 

5. Marketing works

All the evidence shows marketing works in encouraging more drinking.  If it did n’t do you really think big profit seeking multinationals would spend so much money on it?  There were more than 40 contacts made with government in just 3 months. The proposed alcohol public health bill which restricted marketing was watered down. Why was so much effort put into changing the proposed law, if alcohol marketing did not work?

 

6. People are more important than profits

The profits of multinationals are not more important than public health. 1,500 of our 11,000 hospital beds are occupied by people with an alcohol related illness. Remember this next time you’re waiting for days with a loved one in an emergency department for a hospital bed. If we reduce alcohol misuse by 25% we could solve the trolley bed problem.

 

We are subsiding the alcohol industry

In a future post I’ll look at the arguments of the alcohol industry as to why marketing should not be banned and why these arguments are incorrect.

A key thing to remember is we the tax payer are subsidising the alcohol industry. Alcohol related costs are higher than the taxes and employment they provide by approximately €1.6 billion every single year.

If you liked this post you may find the 7 myths of alcohol advertising interesting.

UPDATE 24th May

The ad has now been banned. See details here

Alcohol can cause insomnia

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Mental health, Physical health

 

Sleep is so essential to both our physical and mental health. So much so studies show  shift workers who work  night shifts long term  have an increased risk of health problems. Severe insomnia can also lead to mental health problems, while mild insomnia can contribute to low mood, stress, fatigue and irritability.

So if you’re trying to live a healthier lifestyle, looking at how well you sleep is important.

Many people believe  a drink before bedtime helps them to sleep.  They’re right. Alcohol acts like a sedative that can often help you fall asleep.

Unfortunately though it’s not the right type of sleep. It often prevents you going into the deeper stages of sleep that are so essential to  you waking up full of energy in the morning. One study showed that even drinking alcohol six hours before bedtime has an impact on the quality of sleep.

 

No more sleeping like a baby

As we get older, our sleeping patterns can change and older people tend to wake up more. The deep sleep we often see in  babies starts to disappear and it becomes rare to sleep through the night.

Alcohol increases this waking up effect and research shows it makes getting back to sleep harder. So the insomnia gets worse as you wake up more and find it harder to get back to sleep. Some people start upping their night time tipple to overcome this, but this usually makes  the insomnia worse.

The more alcohol you drink the worse the insomnia gets and studies that people who have a long time physical dependence on alcohol can really  have problems with sleeping.

If you’ve been drinking heavily every night for a long time, and suddenly stop, it can actually  make insomnia much worse. Medical support may  be needed. You might find this link helpful if you have any concerns that you may be physically dependent on alcohol.

 

Jasmine tea is a natural sedative

A good natural alternative to using alcohol as a sleeping pill  is Jasmine tea. This is widely available and is often sold as Jasmine green tea.

Make the tea with boiling water and simmer gently in a saucepan for 15 minutes. You can make enough for three days as it will stay fresh in the fridge. Reheat gently on the hob not in a microwave.

 

Other Tips for helping insomnia include

Do

  • Take exercise you enjoy
  • Make a list of things you need to do the next day
  • Keep a notepad beside your bed. If you do wake up thinking about all you have to do, you can jot it down on a notepad
  • Make sure your bedroom is cool and tidy. Clutter in the bedroom affects your mental state
  • Make sure your bed is comfortable.
  • Use meditation techniques. You can try out headspace.com a well known programme for free.

Don’t

  • Drink caffeine late in the evening
  • Eat a large meal late in the evening
  • Watch violent or disturbing programmes just before you go to bed. Ideally stop watching TV and hour before you go to bed
  • Use electronic devices  just before going to bed