Erika
Erika has been having trouble with sleep lately. In particular, she finds that her mind races with minor worries when she tries to go to sleep. When she does fall asleep, she doesn't tend to stay asleep for very long. One night, Erika has three glasses of wine before bed. She falls asleep easily that night, but even after eight hours of sleep, she wakes up feeling unrested. Erika talked to her friend Betsy about her sleep problems, and Besty invited Erika to join her for her weekly yoga class. Betsy claimed that yoga really helped her to sleep well. In the class, Erika learned how to do some basic meditation. That night, Erika tried some of the meditation techniques just before going to bed. She had a great sleep and woke up feeling much more refreshed than she had in weeks.
When Erika uses alcohol to sleep, why does she not wake up feeling rested?
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Alcohol increases activity in the reticular activating system, which leads to immediate sleep but makes a person feel "drained" the next day.◦
Alcohol has effects similar to those of sedatives, and may prevent her from experiencing a normal sleep pattern.◦
Alcohol is a central nervous system stimulant, so she was more physiologically aroused even while sleeping.◦
Alcohol brings on a delta-wave pattern of brain activity.
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