Ways Sleeping Pills Harm Your Health

Amy Taylor January 17, 2014

Have troubles falling asleep? You are not alone. Millions of people out there experience the same. Lack of sleep is among the major health concerns nowadays as people crunch time for work, family, and other personal responsibilities. And if you’re like most sleep-deprived individuals, you probably have tried or have thought about taking prescription or over-the-counter sleeping aids – those magic pills advertised in the television as the ‘one-pop’ cure for your sleeping problems. The sad thing is – convenient as they may seem, sleeping pills have such a dark side – a very dark side.

Before that, it would be better to discuss what sleeping pills do to your brain first. All sleep medications work on the brain to promote drowsiness. The brain is composed of very busy nerve cells chattering away using chemicals that either inhibit or excite each other. The mother of all inhibitory chemicals is the GABA. Most sleep aids mimic the effect of this protein in your brain, promoting sleepiness. But even though the drugs are potentially beneficial in the short term, they could cause serious health risks as well.

So in what ways do sleeping pills harm your health?

They have side effects. Just like all pharmaceutical medications, sleeping pills do have side effects too and these can range from simple, bearable headache to discomforting symptoms of nausea, digestion problems, fatigue, unusual dreams, and so on. You won’t know though, whether you will experience side effects with a particular sleeping medication until you try it.

Sleeping pills may cause parasomnias. Parasomnias are behaviours over which you don’t have control, such as sleep walking. During a parasomnia, you are asleep and unaware of what is happening. Parasomnias triggered by sleeping pills may include complex behaviours, such as talking to someone over the phone, having sex, or eating whilst in a state of sleep.

They can get you hooked. If taken on a regular basis, sleeping medications can be addictive. You may find that without it, you may find it hard to fall asleep. Several studies suggest that long-term use of sleeping pills may actually interfere with sleep. In one study by the University of Detroit, sleeping pill-dependent participants were given a choice of blue or orange pill (the pill they were on or a placebo). Participants took equal amounts of the two pills. Meaning, it doesn’t matter what’s inside the pill, as long as they are taking it, their brain is fine with it.

They increase the risk of accidents. Numerous studies have shown that use of sleeping pills increase the likelihood of accidents. A study published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry found that sleeping pill and anti-anxiety pill users increased the overall death rate 36 per cent.

Taking medications may be a quick fix to your sleeping problems. But they may pose serious health risks over time. The good news is that there are alternative ways to induce sleep and they vary from herbal remedies to complementary therapies like acupuncture, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and hypnotherapy.