“Information will come to us in our dreams that cannot be received any other way.” *
Sleep is incredibly important for overall health and well-being. Consumption of alcohol can negatively affect sleep, whether in the context of an alcohol use disorder or a habitual glass of wine or two. In particular, REM sleep, the part of sleep that is associated with dreaming, is highly vulnerable to these effects. and therefore our connection to the unconscious mind.
Dreams provide connection to the unconscious that can be important keys to unlocking messages that can help navigate a healing recovery journey. The unconscious mind thrives on automatic behaviors. Automatic behaviors, loss of control, and psychological denial are insidious aspects of attachment, and its extreme, addiction.
In Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams ©2017, Matthew Walker, Ph.D explains that people consuming even moderate amounts of alcohol in the afternoon or evening are depriving themselves of this beneficial dream sleep.
Alcohol dismantles sleep in three ways:
1. Alcohol is in a class of drugs called sedatives. Sedation is not sleep.
2. Alcohol fragments sleep by releasing activating chemicals which prevent continuous sleep. Continuous sleep is necessary for the body’s restoration. By littering the night with brief awakenings that go unnoticed by the sleeper, alcohol prevents that needed repair.
3. Alcohol suppresses dream sleep (REM). When the body metabolizes alcohol it produces by-product chemicals called aldehydes and ketones. The aldehydes in particular will block the brain’s ability to generate REM sleep. It’s rather like the cerebral version of cardiac arrest, preventing the pulsating beat of brainwaves that otherwise power dream sleep. The electrical brainwave state one enters via alcohol is not that of natural sleep; rather, it is akin to a light form of anesthesia.
The quality of sleep and ability to enter dream sleep will be directly affected by the quantity and frequency of alcohol consumed. Any amount of alcohol consumed will negatively impact one’s ability to achieve restorative sleep.
If you are a person who has developed an alcohol use disorder, you will most likely have experienced chronic sleep deprivation and its consequences on your mind, body, and connection to the unconscious through dream sleep. Going for long stretches of time without dream sleep produces a tremendous build up, and backlog of, pressure to obtain REM sleep.
The good news is that once a person has detoxed physically from alcohol, meaning alcohol has cleared the body, restorative sleep returns. When REM sleep returns to the chronically sleep deprived, it is not uncommon to experience extremely intense, vivid, and disturbing dreams, the energy of which may linger in one’s thoughts and emotions. Dreamscapes can feel extremely realistic and often include “using dreams,” where the dreamer wakes up feeling all of the anxiety, guilt, and even panic of having relapsed in a dream. Because REM sleep has been continuously suppressed for a period of months or years, it is as if the brain is playing catch up and the backlog of REM floods the dreamer.
One of the ways to think about this is that first we experience a clearing of alcohol physically, and then, as REM sleep returns, we begin to clear its effect psychologically through returned memories and dreams in REM sleep. Dreams offer a deep psychological detox once safety has been established physically.
A connection to what is unconscious for the recovering person is an important part of staying in recovery because so much of the obsession lives in denial. In this way, the disease progresses psychologically and spiritually, as well as physically. After all, alcohol is deeply embedded in the psyche, both collectively and individually. When we adopt a new way of life as a non-drinker, or person in recovery, it takes tremendous effort and courage to metabolize the shift socially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. These shifts, however, are necessary to arrive at a new level of awareness and alignment. In this way, we might consider that ‘using dreams’ are opportunities to experience the feelings that go along with a relapse without actually drinking or using. This is why dreams can be such a powerful component to the recovery process, helping one access the unconscious in a beneficial way.
What can we learn from “drinking and using dreams?”
Dreams are highly specific but unfortunately highly susceptible to being forgotten, which is why it is essential to capture their messages in the moment.
Upon waking from a using or drinking dream, one might notice a feeling of relief and gratitude that it that it was “just a dream.” This points to a sincere desire to maintain sobriety. It can also help the dreamer recognize how far away from themselves they had gone as the drinking progressed over time, and where the growing edge is in their current recovery process.
Dreams of relapse, at or near a relapse are important. These dreams often serve as a barometer of sobriety or a warning light on one’s psychological and spiritual dashboard. They generally occur when a person is close to relapsing or finds themselves in a situation or psychological state where they would have turned to alcohol or drugs for relief in the past.
“The dream knows something I do not.” **
In this way, dreams have the capacity to serve recovery practices. For example, a newly sober woman drives by a liquor store every day without stopping. She then dreams that she stops at this liquor store, purchases a couple bottles of wine, and then consumes one of them in her car on the way to pick up her children from daycare. Upon awaking from the dream, the dreamer feels overwhelmed with shame about her reckless and irresponsible behavior.
Dreams speak symbolically and therefore, can communicate several truths at once. If this was a behavior that the woman engaged in prior to entering recovery, the dream might be a sign that while things are improving, there is unresolved shame that needs attention. The dream could also be a relief to the dreamer, and a reminder of how much improvement she is experiencing on her recovery journey. The dreamer may also want to examine why such reckless and irresponsible behavior appeared in a dream at this particular time. Perhaps the dream is pointing to a need for increased self-care and nurturing, or greater discipline and accountability in her recovery practices. The dreamer could ask herself: “How am I protecting myself and my sobriety today? Or, am I protecting those who have been most affected by my drinking in the past? “
To mine the value of your dreams, it’s important to keep a record of them as soon as you wake. You may want to consider what your conscious standpoint was prior to the dream. Dreams almost always concern issues we are not fully conscious of.
After a drinking or using dream, ask yourself the following:
Am I minimizing the impact of my drinking/substance use?
Am I overconfident or testing control?
Is the pace of my life conducive to self-care, or is it possible that I have become too busy with distractions to pay attention to myself and my emotions?
Is there something I am in denial or lying to myself about?
Why am I dreaming this now?
What does this dream require of me?
The importance of inner work for individuals in recovery cannot be underestimated. The return of REM sleep provides invaluable messages from the unconscious for deeper self-inquiry. Paying attention to the content of your dreams increases self-awareness and fuels the potential for a more deliberate and authentic life in recovery. ~ Barbara Dugan 2021
** Dreams as Angels: Feeding the Dream with our Substance, Russel A. Lockhart, 2013