Addiction Medicine Made Easy | Fighting back against addiction

Up All Night: How Drugs, Alcohol, and Recovery Disrupt Sleep—and How to Fix It

Feb 9, 2026

Helen Dugdale, clinical psychologist and author of Put Insomnia to Sleep, explains how anxiety trains the brain to stay awake and why alcohol, cannabis, and OTC sedatives fail to restore true rest. Short practical tactics include CBT-I basics, EMDR for trauma-linked insomnia, caffeine timing, screen swaps, and tiny habit hacks for busy or resource-limited lives.

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ANECDOTE

Sleep Loss Drives Poor Daily Decisions

Helen Dugdale describes how poor sleep affects mood, decision‑making, and daily function, driving poor choices like reaching for alcohol.
She ties sleep loss to emotional dysregulation, mistakes at work, and diminished motivation for healthy behaviors.

ADVICE

Ditch Close Screens Before Bed

Put screens down at least an hour before bed and prefer distant TV or nonstimulating books instead of phones or tablets.
Replace evening screen time with a warm bath, meditating, or gentle self‑care that doesn't excite your nervous system.

ADVICE

Start With Micro‑Habits

Start tiny when time is limited: use 30 seconds, one minute, or 0.5%–1% of your day for self‑care habits.
Helen Dugdale recommends carving out seven to fourteen minutes daily to reinforce sleep‑supporting behaviors.

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Sleep doesn’t break because you forgot how to close your eyes. It breaks when anxiety trains your brain to stay on guard, and when quick fixes like alcohol, cannabis, or OTC sleep aids sedate you without restoring you. We team up with Australian psychologist and author Helen Dugdale to unpack how insomnia forms, why 3 a.m. wakeups become a habit loop, and the practical, evidence‑based steps that rebuild real rest—especially for people in recovery.

Helen shares how anxiety sits at the core of most sleep problems and why the brain’s plasticity is our greatest ally. We dig into Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT‑I) basics—aligning with circadian rhythm, setting simple pre‑bed routines, and replacing catastrophic thoughts with repeatable behaviors—and explore how Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) calms trauma so sleep skills can finally land. Expect concrete tactics: caffeine cutoffs tied to bedtime, screen boundaries that don’t feel punitive, mantras that redirect attention, breathing and counting that occupy mental space, and progressive muscle relaxation you can run anywhere, even in a noisy room with the lights on.

We also address the realities people with addiction face: unstable housing, tight budgets, caregiving, and long days that drain executive function. You’ll hear how to build micro‑habits that fit into crowded lives—thirty seconds while the kettle boils, one minute before starting the car, seven minutes as “0.5% of your day.” We talk timelines for progress, what to do on rough days when HALT hits, and how to bounce back from relapse without shame. The throughline is hope: you are worth the effort, and repetition rewires nights. If you’re ready to trade quick fixes for deep, durable rest, this conversation gives you a blueprint you can start tonight.

Subscribe, share with a friend who needs better sleep, and leave a review with the one habit you’ll try first. Your feedback helps others find the show.

To learn more about Helen's work: https://australianbraincoaching.com.au

To contact Dr. Grover: ammadeeasy@fastmail.com