How do people with insomnia feel about sleeping pills?
Attitudes toward sleep medications differ from one American to the next, and between Americans and Australians, it turns out. Here’s a brief comparison that I hope will start a conversation.
How do people with insomnia feel about sleeping pills?
Among 51 insomnia sufferers interviewed by Australian researchers in Sydney, both users and non-users of sleeping pills (or sleeping tablets) held negative views of sleep medications.
When I asked this same question of the 90-odd American insomniacs I interviewed for my book, the response was more divided. Some people viewed prescription sleeping pills as harmful and said they’d never use them. Others felt their sleep medications were helpful and would not want to give them up. Here’s what I wrote:
Poll the sleepless about sleeping pills, and you come up with . . . a red-state, blue-state affair. In one camp are the pill abstainers . . . and in the other, insomniacs who’d sooner dump their iPhones than part with their pills.
Pro or con, attitudes about sleeping pills are often strongly held. Following is a brief comparison of Australian and American attitudes that I hope will start a conversation.
SAFETY VS. EFFECTIVENESS
Both the Australians and the Americans felt that pharmaceutical sleep aids were stronger and more effective at putting people to sleep than over-the-counter (OTC) sleep aids or “natural” sleep aids such as valerian or melatonin.
But most Australians said they didn’t like taking sleep medication. They expressed a definite preference for natural products based on the notion that natural products were gentler on the body and had fewer harmful effects. In the majority view, safety concerns outweighed concerns about sleeping tablets’ effectiveness.
“I’ll take something that isn’t as effective so it doesn’t have any negative consequences,” said a man quoted in the Australian study.
A woman, comparing how she felt about taking the sleeping pill temazepam (Restoril) with how she felt about about the prospect of taking melatonin, said this: “I felt it’s a more natural remedy than the temazepam. So I think I was less stressed about taking it.”
But the Australians were divided as to whether prescription or OTC medication was the safer option. Some thought OTC sleep aids (medications containing diphenhydramine, such as Benadryl and Tylenol PM in the United States) were safer because they were available without a prescription and therefore less potent and apt to have fewer side effects. Others felt the safer alternative was to go with a prescription medication recommended by a doctor who was familiar with one’s individual medical needs and could supervise the process.
AMONG AMERICANS, A SPLIT
About half of the insomniacs I interviewed felt they needed medication to get a good night’s sleep and were mainly concerned about medications’ effectiveness. Jane M. wrote the following comment on one of my earlier blogs. It epitomizes the feelings of insomniacs who were satisfied with the sleeping pills they were using, having decided the benefits outweighed concern about risks.
“I was first prescribed Ambien many years ago, and don’t think I could have continued my work life this long without it. I sleep soundly eight hours every night, wake up with lots of energy, and have always wanted to meet the discoverer of the formula to thank him or her.
“My gratitude is deeply felt. My mother, who died in 1983, sat up half the night for years. I think there are genetic issues, hormone issues, aging issues . . . I could walk 20 miles a day and I still wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. Some people have asked, ‘What if you become addicted?’ to which my answer has always been ‘So what?’ I am addicted to sleep, good health, and a strong work ethic. Ambien has made it all possible for me into my mid-70s.”
SOME AMERICANS CONCERNED ABOUT RISKS
The other half of my respondents voiced reservations about sleeping pills, similar to the Australians. Their reasons were mixed. Some did not think of insomnia as a medical problem, preferring to address it through changes in lifestyle or psychotherapy rather than with drugs.
Other insomniacs shied away from using sleeping pills because of negative feelings about medication overall and about prescription hypnotics in particular. Still others felt they simply couldn’t tolerate such potent medication.
“I can’t take any hardcore pharmaceuticals,” an insomniac told me. “A mild antidepressant, that’s something I’d consider. But I’m afraid of sleeping pills.”
Unlike the Australians, few of the American insomniacs I spoke with had anything good to say about so-called natural sleep aids—herbal teas, melatonin, lavender. Based on my interviews, I would venture to suggest that here in the United States, the concept of the natural sleep aid does not have the strongly positive connotation it has in Australia.
But some Americans said they got relief from insomnia using OTC sleep aids like Benadryl and Unisom, which they felt were likely to be gentler and less harmful than prescription pharmaceuticals.
ACCOUNTING FOR ATTITUDINAL DIFFERENCES
The differences (and similarities) spelled out here may not be representative of Australians and Americans overall. The sample sizes are small, and the years when the interviews were conducted were different (2013–2014 for the Australian study; 2004–2008 for my book). Physician prescribing patterns and the public health information patients receive about insomnia and sleeping pills may be different as well.
But my point is not to make an evidence-based claim about attitudes in Australia and the United States. Rather, I’m interested in knowing how readers of this blog feel about sleeping pills, OTC sleep medications, and “natural” complementary sleep aids, and why.
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I was diagnosed with insomnia when I was in my 20s. It’s not like I couldn’t sleep at all, but I could only sleep for about 4 hours a night. As someone who had to stay up late for work, the lack of sleep caused me to oversleep during the day. This blog will help you figure out how to deal with your insomnia- emphasizing practical solutions!