Comment by 65
1 year ago
Even small amounts of alcohol can reduce sleep quality: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/nutrition/alcohol-and-sleep
There is no instance where alcohol is good for you: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/new-alcohol-research-shows...
I think it's mostly wishful thinking, and maybe some cognitive dissonance, that drinking is somehow good for you in any way.
I think we as a society need to accept that alcohol is straight up bad for you. There is no case to be made for drinking as some kind of health benefit. There is a case to be made for drinking as a "fun" thing to do or as a depressant to remove yourself from anxious thoughts - but knowing that alcohol damages your brain is useful in determining if it's worth it for you.
Personally, I like smoking weed once a week. But I don't ever think "this is good for me" - I know weed is not good for you. I do it because it's fun. Nicotine (in the form of gum/mints - NOT in the form of smoking) is a different story, it's not nearly as bad for you as people make it out to be: https://gwern.net/nicotine
And sometimes I take some magic mushrooms - which to me have been immensely helpful in figuring out life and progressing forward to a better path. Magic mushrooms don't even really feel like "drugs" in that sense. And maybe if more people ate some shrooms they'd feel less like drinking and more like enjoying life as-is. It's good for helping with anxiety and depression as well. Just a thought.
>Even small amounts of alcohol can reduce sleep quality: There is no instance where alcohol is good for you: I think it's mostly wishful thinking, and maybe some cognitive dissonance, that drinking is somehow good for you in any way.
I don't think I said "alcohol is good for you go drink it", I said alcohol takes the edge off of MY anxiety and helps ME with my sleep IF I manage it right.
Yes, some research says alcohol reduces sleep quality, but for me it does the opposite IF I do it right. Who should I trust, the papers, or how I feel when I wake up?
If anxiety is preventing you from falling asleep or staying asleep, I don't think alcohol is the right solution. Alcohol might make you fall asleep quicker, but it's invariably going to affect how you sleep, such as messing with your REM sleep, messing with your ability to stay asleep, and then affecting deep sleep (NREM).
https://www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/en/healthu/2023/06/...
I would suggest sleep specific medicine, like NyQuil, rather than alcohol, which will not only long term negatively affect your sleep but also affect other parts of your body such as your ability to handle stress: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3860387/
Thus, alcohol might actually be increasing your stress and anxiety levels over time, rather than reducing them.
I agree with all of what you said until you started suggesting NyQuil instead. We don't have good data for long term effect of using antihistamine. Alcohol, in small quantity is not good but it's also not that bad especially in otherwise healthy and active people. Ideally, non medicated ways to reduce anxiety is a lot better.