Long-term studies on the effects of sleeping pills don’t show encouraging results. In fact the one major conclusion from all studies is that insomniacs are better off without sleeping pills than they are with them. One study alone that surveyed over 2,000,000 people, found that chronic use of sleeping pills are as deadly as cigarette smoking.
The case against sleeping pills is compelling. The following information points out some important reasons why sleeping pills should not be considered.
- Those who use sleeping pills have significantly higher mortality rates than those who do not
- Sleeping pills (& even the newer generations) do little or nothing to improve chronic insomnia and cause long-term chemical dependency
- Sleeping pills reduce brain cell activity during the day, affecting short-term memory as well as causing a hangover effect
- Sleeping pills accentuate the GABA neurotransmitter, which keeps the nerve cells in the lung tissue from firing. This is why an overdose of sleeping pills will cause asphyxiation and over 1000 overdose related deaths each year
- GABA actuation is also responsible for impaired physical ability. Each year, thousands of traffic deaths, accidents and falls (especially in the elderly) are attributed to sleeping pills
- Sleep Apnea Patients should never take sleeping pills. Sleeping pills increase the pauses and length of pause in breathing. Someone with sleep apnea could suffer brain or ocular damage from the lack of oxygen or even death
- Anyone over the age of 40 should be cautioned against sleeping pills, and anyone over the age of 65 should never take sleeping pills. Studies show that almost all people over 40 have some symptoms of sleep apnea, and anyone over 65 would be clinically diagnosed with sleep apnea
- Sleeping pills create a hypnotic dependency similar to alcohol and lower inhibitions and fear of pain or consequences. This is one reason why sleeping pills contribute to accidents and why chronic sleeping pill users are less likely to worry or take care of themselves
- Sleeping pills are highly addictive. Sleeping pills are similar to barbiturates and are extremely difficult to stop using
- Although sleeping pills do not improve daytime functioning, people still prefer taking them because of the barbiturate feel-good effect they produce. As with many addictive drugs, they may not be helpful, but we feel good when we take them
Side Effects of Sleeping Pills
Unfortunately sleeping pills do the same things to us during the day that we want them to at night. That is they impair our consciousness, judgment, memory and intelligence. Ironically, insomniacs think sleeping pills make them sleep better, when they actually make them feel worse. This is because of the misperception that sleeping pills are supposed to help us sleep better. In comparison studies against placebo, patients receiving placebo did better than those with sleeping pills, although those with the sleeping pills erroneously believed they were doing better.
Perhaps the most shocking condemnation of sleeping pills is that they do not improve daytime function or performance. Since the definition for ‘Quality of Sleep’ is that amount which allows us to operate at optimum levels of energy, sleeping pills are not the answer.
Pharmaceutical companies concentrate on reducing the side effects of sleeping pills, not on improving daytime performance. Those who take these pills however, are misguided into believing they will receive a daytime benefit. The chance is very high that they will end up becoming chronic sleeping pill users. New commercials for sleeping pills now caution that, “Almost everyone has some risk of becoming dependant on sleep medication.”
While defending the use of sleeping pills, pharmaceutical companies counter that most of the people who use sleeping pills take them for a few weeks or less. What they don’t say, however is that the vast majority of all prescriptions are repeat prescriptions to chronic insomniacs.
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