Insomnia: why sleeping pills aren’t always the best solution

Sleeping pills are most effective if they are taken as a short-term solution or if the source of the insomnia is related to anxiety.

Unfortunately, many people, who suffer from insomnia for a wide range of different reasons, believe that taking medication is their only option to overcome lack of sleep.

Sleeping pills or anti-anxiety medications are often prescribed, especially if someone is going through a stressful situation such as divorce, job loss, moving home, or bereavement.

However, in the long term, your body can get used to the medication which then reduces or cancels its effect. So sometimes the dosage can be increased, which risks creating addictive behavior, dependence, or addiction.

Withdrawal symptoms, after stopping prescription drugs, can also lead to great anxiety and further signs of insomnia.

There can be a number of other problems caused by taking sleep medications. For example, some forms of sleep medications, such as barbiturates, can suppress the REM (rapid eye movement) stage of the sleep cycle. This stage of the sleep cycle is vital to our physical and emotional health. Sleeping pills or sedatives can also disrupt the body’s built-in master clock in our brain and our circadian rhythms. People have been known to walk, eat, or try to drive in their sleep after taking sedative-hypnotics.

There is also a condition called psychophysiological insomnia where the affected person worries obsessively about their inability to sleep, often taking drastic measures with different forms of medication in a desperate attempt to get some sleep.

Some prescription medications can cause confusion, headaches, visual disturbances, constipation or diarrhea, and balance problems.

So what are the alternatives?

Researchers in New York have found that cognitive behavioral therapy for people suffering from insomnia as a result of chronic back or neck pain or for psychological reasons is more effective than taking sleeping pills.

Taking a holistic approach to fighting insomnia is also more beneficial and long-lasting.

With this method, you would take steps to naturally reset your body’s biological clock, reduce stimulants and chemicals that keep you awake, eat foods that have naturally sedating properties, exercise at the right times during the day, and adapt your lifestyle. (especially if you shift work or at night) to support your efforts to obtain a healthy natural sleep.

Learning to fall asleep naturally is the best long-term solution to beating insomnia.