Abstract
Nearly all drugs of abuse and alcohol have considerable effects on sleep efficiency, sleep continuity, sleep stages, and consequent next-day alertness. It has been hypothesized that such drug effects on sleep and wake function may act as contributing factors in maintaining compulsive and excessive drug use, as well as factors that increase the risk for relapse. Alcohol at high doses disrupts sleep continuity and suppresses REM sleep. In abstinent alcoholics, a REM sleep disturbance is predictive of relapse. Stimulants, which have daytime alerting effects, have been shown to increase alertness and wakefulness at night, and suppress REM sleep. Analgesics have been found to decrease REM sleep and total sleep time, as well as increase daytime sleepiness. Hallucinogens have varying effects on sleep. MDMA has been shown to reduce sleep time without having major effects on REM sleep, whereas marijuana has been found to decrease REM sleep while increasing slow wave sleep. Older sedative-hypnotics like the barbiturates are also REM suppressant. In fact, virtually all drugs of abuse have REM suppressant properties, at least acutely. In contrast, the newer sedative-hypnotics (i.e., the benzodiazepine receptor agonists) which have a low abuse liability have been shown to have little effect on REM sleep.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Stone BM. Sleep and low doses of alcohol. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1980;48:706–9.
Roehrs T, Roth T. Sleep, sleepiness, sleep disorders and alcohol use and abuse. Sleep Med Rev. 2001;5:287–97.
Hyde M, Roehrs T, Roth T. Alcohol, alcoholism, and sleep. In: Lee-Chiong T, editor. Sleep: a comprehensive handbook. Philadelphia, PA: Wiley; 2006. p. 867–71.
Ancoli-Israel S, Roth T. Characteristics of insomnia in the United States: Results of the 1991 National Sleep Foundation Survey I. Sleep. 2000;22:S347–53.
Roehrs T, Papineau K, Rosenthal L, Roth T. Ethanol as a hypnotic in insomniacs: self administration and effects of sleep and mood. Neuropsychopharmacology. 1999;20:279–86.
Roehrs, Blaisdell B, Cruz N, Roth T. Tolerance to hypnotic effects of ethanol in insomnias. Sleep. 2004;27:352 (ab).
Guilleminault C. Sleep apnea syndromes: impact of sleep and sleep states. Sleep. 1980;3:227–34.
Issa FG, Sullivan CE. Alcohol, snoring and sleep apneas. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1982;45:353–9.
Mitler MM, Dawson A, Henriksen SJ, Sobers M, Bloom FE. Bedtime ethanol increases resistance of upper airways and produces sleep apneas in asymptomatic snorers. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1988;12:801–5.
Herzog M, Riemann R. Alcohol ingestion influences the nocturnal cardio-respiratory activity in snoring and non-snoring males. Eur Arch Otorhinolarygol. 2004;261:459–62.
Aldrich MS, Shipley JE. Alcohol use and periodic limb movements of sleep. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1993;17:192–6.
LeBon O, Verbanck P, Hoffmann G, et al. Sleep in detoxified alcoholics: impairment of most standard sleep parameters and increased risk for sleep apnea, but not for myclonias—a controlled study. J Stud Alcohol. 1997;58:30–6.
Brower KJ. Alcohol’s effects on sleep in alcoholics. Alcohol Res Health. 2001;25:110–25.
Drummond SPA, Gillin JC, Smith TL, Demondena A. The sleep of abstinent pure primary alcoholic patients: natural course and relation to relapse. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1998;22:1796–802.
Allen RP, Wagman AM, Funderburk FR, Well DT. Slow wave sleep: a predictor of individuals differences in response to drinking? Biol Psychiatry. 1980;15:345–8.
Gillin JC, Smith TL, Irwin M, et al. Increased pressure for rapid eye movement sleep at time of hospital admission predicts relapse in nondepressed patients with primary alcoholism at 3-month follow-up. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1994;51:189–97.
Arnedt JT, Conroy D, Rutt J, Aloia MS, Brower KJ, Armitage R. An open trial of cognitive-behavioral treatment for insomnia comorbid with alcohol dependence. Sleep Med. 2007;8:176–80.
Griffiths RR, Mumford GF. Caffeine—a drug of abuse? In: Bloom FE, Kupfer DJ, editors. Psychopharmacology: the fourth generation of progress. New York: Raven; 1995. p. 1699–713.
Brezinova V. Effect of caffeine on sleep: EEG study in late middle age people. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1974;1:203–8.
Karacan I, Thornby JI, Anch M, Booth GH, Williams RL, Salis PJ. Dose-related sleep disturbances induced by coffee and caffeine. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1977;20:682–9.
Nicholson AN, Stone BM. Heterocyclic amphetamine derivatives and caffeine on sleep. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1980;9:195–203.
Okuma T, Matsuoka H, Matuse Y, Toyomura K. Model insomnia by methylphenidate and caffeine and use in the evaluation of temazepam. Psychopharmacology. 1982;76:201–13.
Bonnet MH, Arand DL. Caffeine use as a model of acute and chronic insomnia. Sleep. 1992;15:526–36.
Gillin LC, Lardon M, Ruiz C, Golshan S, Salin-Pascual RJ. Dose-dependent effects of transdermal nicotine on early morning awakening and rapid eye movement sleep time in non-smoking normal volunteers. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 1994;14:264–7.
Salin-Pascual RJ, de la Fuente JR, Galicia-Polo L, Drucker-Colin R. Effects of transdermal nicotine on mood and sleep in nonsmoking major depressed patients. Psychopharmacology. 1995;121:476–9.
Davila DG, Hurt RD, Offord KP, Harris CD, Shepard JW. Acute effects of transdermal nicotine on sleep architecture, snoring, and sleep-disordered breathing in nonsmokers. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1994;1560:469–74.
Prosise Gl, Bonnet MH, Berry RB, Dickel ML. Effects of abstinence from smoking on sleep and daytime sleepiness. Chest. 1994;105:1136–41.
Wetter DW, Fiore MC, Baker TB, Young TB. Tobacco withdrawal and nicotine replacement influence objective measures of sleep. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1995;63:658–67.
Phillips BA, Danner FJ. Cigarette smoking and sleep disturbance. Arch Intern Med. 1995;155:734–7.
Gawin FH, Kleber HD. Abstinence symptomatology and psychiatric diagnosis in cocaine abusers. Gen Psychiatry. 1986;43:107–13.
Kowatch RA, Schnoll SS, Knisely JS, Green D, Elswick RK. Electroencephalograpic sleep and mood during cocaine withdrawal. J Addict Disorders. 1992;11:21–45.
Johanson CE, Roehrs T, Schuh K, Warbasse L. The effects of cocaine on mood and sleep in cocaine-dependent males. Exp Clin Psychopharm. 1999;4:338–46.
Rechtschaffen A, Maron L. The effect of amphetamine on the sleep cycle. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1964;16:438–45.
Mitler MM, Hajdukovic R, Erman MK. Treatment of narcolepsy with methamphetamine. Sleep. 1993;16:306–17.
Watson R, Hartmann E, Schildkraut JJ. Amphetamine withdrawal: affective state, sleep patterns and MHPG excretion. Amer J Psychiat. 1972;129:262–9.
Nicholson AN, Stone BM. Stimulants and sleep in man. Agressologie. 1981;22:73–8.
Braekeland F. The effect of methylphenidate on the sleep cycle in man. Psychopharmacologia. 1966;10:179–83.
Tirosh E, Sadeh A, Munvez R, Lavie P. Effects of methylphenidate on sleep in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Am J Dis Child. 1993;147:1313–5.
Greenhill L, Puig-Antich J, Goetz R, Hanlon C, Davies M. Sleep architecture and REM sleep measures in prepubertal children with attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity. Sleep. 1983;6:91–101.
Roehrs T, Papineau K, Rosenthal L, Roth T. Sleepiness and the reinforcing and subjective effects of methylphenidate. Exp Clin Psychopharm. 1999;7:145–50.
Kay DC, Pickworth WB, Neidert GL. Morphine-like insomnia from heroin in non-dependent human addicts. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1981;11:159–69.
Kay DC, Eisenstein RB, Jasinski DR. Morphine effects on human REM state, waking state, and NREM sleep. Psychopharmacologia. 1969;14:404–16.
Pickworth WB, Neidert GL, Kay DC. Morphine-like arousal by methadone during sleep. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1981;30:796–804.
Kay DC. Human sleep during chronic morphine intoxication. Psychopharmacologia. 1975;44:117–24.
Mello NK, Mendelson JH, Lukas SE, Gastfriend DR, Teoh SK, Homan L. Buprenorphine treatment of opiate and cocaine abuse: clinical and preclinical studies. Harv Rev Psychiatry. 1993;1:168–83.
Griffiths RR, Weerts EM. Benzodiazepine self-administration in humans and laboratory animals. Implications for problems of long-term use and abuse. Psychopharmacology. 1997;134:1–37.
deWit H, Pierri J, Johanson CE. Reinforcing and subjective effects of diazepam in nondrug-abusing volunteers. Pharm Biochem Behav. 1989;33:205–13.
deWit H, Uhlenhuth EH, Hedeker D, McCracken SG, Johanson CE. Lack of preference for diazepam in anxious volunteers. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1986;43:533–41.
Oswald LM, Roache JD, Rhoades HM. Predictors of individual differences in alprazolam self-medication. Exp Clin Psychopharm. 1999;7:379–90.
Roehrs T, Merlotti L, Zorick F, Roth T. Rebound insomnia and hypnotic self administration. Psychopharmacology. 1992;107:480–4.
Roehrs T, Pedrosi B, Rosenthal L, Zorick F, Roth T. Hypnotic self administration and dose escalation. Psychopharmacology. 1996;127:150–4.
Roehrs T, Pedrosi B, Rosenthal L, Zorick F, Roth T. Hypnotic self administration: forced-choice versus single-choice. Psychopharmacology. 1997;133:121–6.
Pivick RT, Zarcone V, Dement WC, Hollister LE. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and synhexl: effects on human sleep patterns. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1972;13:426–35.
Freemon FR. The effect of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on sleep. Psychopharmacologia. 1974;35:39–44.
Barratt ES, Beaver W, White R. The effects of marijuana on human sleep patterns. Biol Psychiat. 1974;8:47–53.
Feinberg I, Jones R, Walker JM, Cavness C, March J. Effects of high dosage delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on sleep patterns in man. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1976;17:458–66.
Tassinari CA, Ambrosetto G, Peraita-Adrados MR, Gastaut H. The neuropsychiatric syndrome of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabis intoxication in naive subjects: a clinical and polygraphic study during wakefulness and sleep. In: Braude MC, Szara S, editors. The pharmacology of marijuana. New York: Raven; 1976. p. 357–82.
Babor TF, Mendelson JH, Kuehnle J. Marijuana and human physical activity. Psychopharmacology. 1976;50:11–9.
Chait LD. Subjective and behavioral effects of marijuana the morning after smoking. Psychopharmacology. 1990;100:328–33.
Karacan I, Fernandez-Salas A, Coggins WJ, Carter WE, Willians RL, Thornby JI, Salis PJ, Okawa M, Villaume JP. Sleep electroencephalographic-electrooculographic characteristics of chronic marijuana users: Part I. Ann NY Acad Sci. 1977;103:348–74.
Schmidt CJ, Levin JA, Lovenberg W. In vitro and in vivo neurochemical effects of methylenedioxymethamphetamine on striatal monoamine systems in the rat brain. Biochem Pharmacol. 1987;36:747–55.
Allen RP, McCann UD, Ricaurte GA. Persistent effects of (±)3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “Ecstasy”) on human sleep. Sleep. 1993;16(6):560–4.
Randall S, Johanson CE, Tancer M, Roehrs T. Effects of acute 3, 4-methylenedioxymethaphetamine on sleep and daytime sleepiness. Sleep. 2009;32(11):1513–9.
Benca RM. Mood disorders. In: Kryger MH, Roth T, Dement WC, editors. Principles and practice of sleep medicine. 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2005. p. 1311–26.
Roehrs TA, Hyde M, Blaisdell B, Greenwalk M, Roth T. Sleep loss and REM sleep loss are hyperalgesic. Sleep. 2006;29:145–51.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Roehrs, T., Roth, T. (2012). Sleep and Sleep Disorders. In: Verster, J., Brady, K., Galanter, M., Conrod, P. (eds) Drug Abuse and Addiction in Medical Illness. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3375-0_30
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3375-0_30
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-3374-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-3375-0
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)