Sleeping pills might actually be worse for you than not sleeping. A recent study published in the online journal BMJ Open suggests that even moderate consumption of sleeping pills can increase mortality 3-4 times. The study compared a group of 10,500 sleeping-pill-poppers with 23,500 un-medicated counterparts of similar backgrounds and lifestyle habits. Subjects taking 18 doses of sleeping pills per year were 3.5 times as likely to die than subjects who counted sheep, drank warm milk or lay restless and miserable until morning. And the likelihood of dying increases with the dosage: Those who were taking 132+ doses per year increased their mortality more than 5 times. The study also concluded that subjects taking high dosages of sleeping pills were 35 percent more likely to get cancer. This is bad news because an increasing amount of Americans use some kind of sleeping pill, almost one in 10 adults in 2010.
“Although the authors have not been able to prove that sleeping pills cause premature death, their analyses have ruled out a wide range of other possible causative factors,” Dr. Trish Groves, editor in chief of BMJ Open, said of the study. “So these findings raise important concerns and questions about the safety of sedatives and sleeping pills.”If the considerable health risks aren't enough to scare you off, consider this: Sleeping pills don't even work very well. Most natural insomnia treatment alternatives have proven more effective. The New York Times summarized some findings: "The medical journal Sleep last year reported on five high-quality trials that showed cognitive behavioral therapy helped people suffering from insomnia fall asleep sooner and stay asleep longer. Another American Journal of Psychiatry analysis of 21 studies showed that behavioral treatment helped people fall asleep nearly nine minutes sooner than sleep drugs. In other measures, sleep therapy worked just as well as drugs, but without any side effects."A lot of natural insomnia cures are common sense: Stop drinking so much coffee, don't do anything stimulating before going to bed like watching television or having a heated conversation, establish a consistent sleep schedule, exercise regularly, and do some calming yoga (especially forward bends and supported restorative poses).
And for the love of Pete, don't freak out if you can't sleep. Panicked clock watching does not usher in restful slumber. In fact, sleeping for eight consecutive hours might be more of a response to electrical and social innovations during the last 300 years than a natural impulse or health necessity. Last week the BBC reported on Roger Ekrich's book At Day's Close: Nights in Times Past which references hundreds of accounts of sleeping many years ago. It sounds like people would usually sleep in 2 nightly segments with periods of considerable activity in between. Some psychologists think that waking up at night is hard wired human physiology. But in either case, just don't kill yourself trying to sleep.
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