The gold standard is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, a program involving multiple visits to a sleep specialist to change behaviors or poor habits that cause sleep loss.īut access to such care can be limited because of a dearth of providers. Indeed, in 2019 the U.S.įood and Drug Administration required the placement of a black box warning on prescriptions of non-BZD hypnotics such as eszopiclone (Lunesta), zolpidem (Ambien), and zaleplon (Sonata).īehavioral treatments for insomnia are increasingly encouraged by physicians.
The study noted that BZDs and other hypnotics have been associated with the risk of motor vehicle accidents, memory impairment, and, in older groups, falls and hip fractures. While the use of sleep medications dropped across all drug classes, the study found the strongest decrease in FDA-approved medications, which fell by 55%. Researchers focused on medications specifically used for insomnia and other transient sleep difficulties.
Participants were asked to bring drugs they had used in the previous month or a pharmacy printout to their visits with researchers, who also inquired about the reason medication was being used. The study analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted every two years. Health Effects of Long-Term Sleeping Pill Use The greater awareness of the importance of sleep to general health also played a critical role. Researchers believe that there are multiple reasons for the rise, including direct-to-consumer marketing, particularly with the emergence of Ambien in the early 1990s. An earlier study by some of the same researchers found that prescriptions for benzodiazepines, or BZDs, a class of drugs to treat anxiety and insomnia that includes diazepam (Valium) and alprazolam (Xanax), and non-BZDs, a similar class of medications including zolpidem (Ambien), climbed 69% and 140%, respectively, between 19.
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