DE A R GEE
LETTER FROM READER
EXTRACT FROM WASHINGTON POST
Dear Gee, I think that since I stopped drinking (May 2020) I have been doing really well at many things but in some other areas, I am struggling. My marriage is improving daily as my husband learns to trust the not-drinking-me. My kids are very encouraging and I am so glad I got out before it got to a point of Mom needed rehab...But my sleep still hasn't settled properly and I have drinking dreams which freak me out in the morning time when I awake . They are pretty much always the same, I am drunk in my kitchen and my husband and kids walk in, and then I am alone at home. I find it takes me a few hours to 'get over' the dream and I am wondering is it normal to have continued broken sleep and drinking dreams so long after stopping? And maybe I need some therapy or sleep aid to see what is really bothering me? (I love your column This is so, so common. Again, we will all recognise this damn dream! When we go to sleep our body is restoring it’s energy and making sense of the world. Our dreams are often a reflection of our emotional state and when you sleep you recall emotions manifested by conversations or incidents that have happened in our day or in recent times. You may notice this dream happens more when you are under stress or feeling anxious, however, this is not always the case. Pre May 2020, your response to stress would have been to drink at it. So your imagined recall is saying to you, ‘ you were stressed today’, and reminding you how you would have responded in the past. In terms of managing it, when it happens, it’s good that you wake up, use that time to remind yourself it was ‘just’ a dream, you are safe and you have not gone back to old habits. In time it does get less and less. The dream may be an insight into your current emotional well-being. Maybe try some tools from your tool kit such as a meditation before bed, or a gratitude diary before bed to ease your sleep into a positive relaxed state of mind as you go off to sleep. I am a huge advocate of talking therapies and would always support anyone engaging in it, so if it is something you are thinking about giving it a go, what have you got to lose. Good luck x p.s. we have received over a dozen emails about drinking dreams and I hope this answers it for you lovelies. People with many decades of sobriety have had drinking dreams so there is nothing unusual about them and do not worry and be proactive in your bed-time routines (meditation + gratitude ) answers each month) x Hey beautiful dreamer,
A team of researchers recently analyzed the connection between genes linked to alcohol consumption and cardiovascular conditions and found that drinking — any amount — was associated with an increased risk of disease. U.S. alcohol-related deaths hit highest rate in decades during coronavirus pandemic, study shows . The study, which was published last week in JAMA Network Open, examined genetic and medical data of nearly 400,000 people through the U.K. Biobank, a large research database in Britain containing genetic, lifestyle and health information available for public health research. The findings showed that even low alcohol intake was associated with a small increased risk of cardiovascular issues, such as hypertension and coronary artery disease, but that risk ramped up exponentially with heavier consumption. It also suggested that the previously held theory that modest drinking, namely of red wine, may help decrease the risk of heart disease is probably not the case. Individuals more likely to drink low to moderate amounts of alcohol also appeared to be more health-minded than those who abstained from it — for example, smoking less, exercising more and eating healthier — all factors that contribute to better heart health, said Krishna Aragam, senior author of the study and a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
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