Circadian rhythms, sleep, and substance abuse

May 31, 2011Sleep medicine reviews

How Body Clocks and Sleep Relate to Substance Abuse

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Circadian Biology on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Abstract

Substance abuse is linked to numerous mental and physical health problems, including disturbed sleep.

Substance use may directly cause sleep disturbances.
Difficulty sleeping may increase the risk of relapse to substance use.
Circadian rhythm disturbances are associated with substance use.
Circadian mechanisms may influence substance abuse independently of sleep.
Further research is needed to understand the relationship between sleep, circadian disturbances, and substance use initiation or relapse.

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Substance abuse is linked to numerous mental and physical health problems, including disturbed sleep. The association between substance use and sleep appears to be bidirectional, in that substance use may directly cause sleep disturbances, and difficulty sleeping may be a risk factor for relapse to substance use. Growing evidence similarly links substance use to disturbances in circadian rhythms, although many gaps in knowledge persist, particularly regarding whether circadian disturbance leads to substance abuse or dependence. Given the integral role circadian rhythms play in regulating sleep, circadian mechanisms may account in part for sleep-substance abuse interactions. Furthermore, a burgeoning research base supports a role for the circadian system in regulating reward processing, indicating that circadian mechanisms may be directly linked to substance abuse independently of sleep pathways. More work in this area is needed, particularly in elucidating how sleep and circadian disturbance may contribute to initiation of, and/or relapse to, substance use. Sleep and circadian-based interventions could play a critical role in the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders.

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Circadian rhythms, sleep, and substance abuse

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