Treatment of insomnia with medication negatively affects life expectancy.
Psychologists examined more than 14 Canadians aged 18 to 102*. Every two years for 12 years, they were asked questions about social status, lifestyle, health, and the use of sedative drugs for insomnia. Even after adjusting for factors such as alcohol, tobacco, physical condition, physical activity, and depression, the death rate among regular drug users was 36% higher than those who did not take sleeping pills. The fact is that sedatives slow down a person’s reaction time, negatively affect coordination of movements, cause breathing problems during sleep … Of course, sleeping pills help to make falling asleep easier, but to achieve long-term improvement, doctors recommend resorting to psychotherapy to develop lifestyle and habits contributing to normal sleep.
* G. Belleville «Mortality hazard associated with anxiolytic and hypnotic drug use in the national population health survey». Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 55, № 9, 2010.