By Liz Ross, Ph.D.
Have you ever had someone tell you, “I sleep great. I just have a glass of wine every night,” or “Taking a gummy is the only thing that helps me sleep”?
As a psychologist who specializes in insomnia, I hear this all the time.
Here’s the thing: many of these strategies really do help people fall asleep faster. The problem is that falling asleep is only one piece of healthy sleep.
Imagine you bought a new phone. Every night, you plug it into the charger for eight hours. But instead of fully charging, it only reaches 40%. The phone was technically plugged in all night, but it never got the recharge it actually needed.
Sleep works much the same way.
Your brain isn’t simply trying to become unconscious. Throughout the night, it cycles through different stages of sleep, each serving a different purpose. Deep sleep helps restore your body. REM sleep helps regulate emotions, strengthen memories, and process what happened during the day.
When something changes those normal sleep cycles, you may spend eight hours in bed and still wake up feeling exhausted.
Let’s look at some of the biggest myths.
Myth #1: Alcohol Helps You Sleep
This one is partly true.
Alcohol often does help people fall asleep faster.
That’s because alcohol slows down brain activity. It increases the effects of a calming brain chemical called GABA, which helps you feel calm, while reducing the effects of another chemical called glutamate, which helps keep us alert. Together, these changes create the feeling of relaxation and sleepiness.
So why isn’t alcohol a good long-term sleep aid?
Because your brain loves balance.
Think of your brain like a thermostat. Whenever something pushes it too far in one direction, it starts making adjustments to bring everything back to normal.
If alcohol slows your brain down, your brain responds by slowly turning itself back up. Those chemicals that were released get snapped up, and then some. So you end up having major rebound anxiety once alcohol leaves your system.
That’s why many people fall asleep easily after drinking but wake up around 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning with their mind racing or find themselves tossing and turning during the second half of the night.
Alcohol also changes your normal sleep architecture by reducing REM sleep early in the night and causing lighter, more fragmented sleep as it wears off.
Over time, your brain adapts. The same glass of wine that once helped you fall asleep doesn’t work as well, so people often find themselves needing a little more.
When someone who drinks regularly stops, they often experience temporary rebound insomnia because the brain is learning to regulate sleep naturally again.
In other words, alcohol doesn’t cure insomnia—it often masks it.
Myth #2: Cannabis Is the Perfect Sleep Aid
Cannabis has become one of the most commonly used sleep aids, and many people genuinely believe it helps.
In the short term, it often does.
THC works on the brain’s natural endocannabinoid system, which helps regulate sleep, pain, stress, and mood. Many people feel calmer and fall asleep more quickly after using cannabis.
But once again, falling asleep is only part of the story.
Newer research suggests that regular THC use changes sleep architecture, particularly by reducing REM sleep. REM is the stage where most dreaming occurs, but it’s also important for emotional processing, learning, creativity, and memory. This is one reason that scientists believe that THC can negatively affect cognitive function.
Interestingly, many people don’t realize this until they stop using cannabis.
One of the most common withdrawal symptoms is experiencing extremely vivid dreams or nightmares. This happens because the brain is trying to “catch up” on the REM sleep that had been suppressed. Sleep specialists call this REM rebound.
Like alcohol, cannabis can also lead to tolerance. Over time, the brain adjusts to the THC, meaning it often takes more to produce the same effect.
This doesn’t mean cannabis is never appropriate. For some people, particularly those with chronic pain or PTSD, it may have an important role as part of a broader treatment plan. But relying on it every night doesn’t necessarily mean you’re getting healthier sleep.
Myth #3: Sleeping Pills Fix Insomnia
Prescription sleep medications can absolutely be helpful.
After the loss of a loved one, a medical illness, surgery, or another major life stressor, short-term medication can provide much-needed relief.
The problem is when medication becomes the only treatment.
Many sleep medications work by helping your brain become less alert. Some increase the effects of GABA, while others block chemicals that help keep us awake.
They can be very effective at helping people fall asleep.
But your brain still wants balance.
With regular use, it gradually adapts to the medication. That’s one reason medications sometimes become less effective over time.
If someone suddenly stops taking them, they may experience rebound insomnia, where sleep temporarily becomes worse before it gets better.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the medication harmed the brain. It’s simply the brain readjusting after becoming accustomed to outside help.
Myth #4: Melatonin Is a Natural Sleeping Pill
Melatonin is probably the most misunderstood sleep supplement.
It’s actually not a sleeping pill.
Melatonin is a hormone your brain naturally releases when it gets dark outside.
Think of it as your brain’s clock—not its off switch.
Its job is to tell your body:
“It’s nighttime. Let’s start getting ready for sleep.”
That’s why melatonin works well for jet lag, shift work, and certain circadian rhythm disorders.
But if your insomnia is caused by stress, anxiety, chronic pain, or years of poor sleep habits, taking more melatonin usually isn’t enough to solve the problem. Chronic use can also decrease the amount of melatonin that your brain naturally makes.
So What Actually Works?
If medications, alcohol, and cannabis all help people fall asleep, why doesn’t the problem go away?
Because insomnia usually isn’t caused by a lack of sedation.
Chronic insomnia often starts with something completely understandable: stress, grief, illness, pregnancy, a new baby, travel, or pain.
Then something interesting happens.
People begin trying harder to sleep.
They go to bed earlier.
They stay in bed longer.
They watch the clock.
They sleep in on weekends.
They start relying on alcohol, cannabis, or medication because they become anxious about another bad night.
Every one of those strategies makes sense.
Unfortunately, many of them inadvertently teach the brain to worry about bedtime.
The Treatment That Actually Retrains the Brain
The most effective long-term treatment for chronic insomnia isn’t a medication.
It’s Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I).
CBT-I doesn’t simply make you sleepy.
It teaches your brain how to sleep naturally again.
Instead of overriding your brain with a substance, CBT-I works with your brain’s natural sleep system. It strengthens your body’s sleep drive, rebuilds the connection between your bed and sleep, reduces anxiety about not sleeping, and helps restore your brain’s natural rhythm.
Study after study has found that CBT-I:
- helps people fall asleep faster
- reduces nighttime awakenings
- improves sleep quality
- works longer than medication alone
- has no risk of dependence
That’s why organizations like the American College of Physicians recommend CBT-I as the first-line treatment for chronic insomnia.
The Bottom Line
If you’ve been relying on alcohol, cannabis, or medication to sleep, you’re certainly not alone. These approaches often help in the short term, especially during periods of intense stress or grief.
But if you’ve reached the point where you need something every night just to fall asleep, it may be time to ask a different question.
Am I actually sleeping better, or am I just becoming unconscious faster?
Those aren’t the same thing.
Healthy sleep isn’t simply about how quickly you fall asleep. It’s about giving your brain the opportunity to move naturally through all of the stages of sleep that help you heal, think clearly, regulate your emotions, and wake up feeling restored.
If you’ve struggled with insomnia for months—or even years—know that effective treatment is available. At The Coping Resource Center, our clinicians specialize in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), the gold standard treatment for chronic insomnia. Our goal isn’t to help you rely on something to sleep. It’s to help you sleep well again.
