Sleeping Pills Can Kill You Faster

There are a lot of people who suffer from insomnia or anxiety and it seems that the medication for these conditions can raise risk of dying in users

Having sleeping problems? Don’t take pills! A new study shows that medication for treating insomnia and anxiety can cause a lot of trouble.

The findings are based on a survey took in Canada that developed for a period of 12 years and which was targeted towards 14,000 people, aged 18 to 102, keeping track of the mortality rate. Once every two years, all participants had to answer questions about their social demographics, lifestyle and health, but also about their use of sedative drugs, including tranquilizers such as Valium, or sleeping pills, such as Nytol. The study shows that those people who were taking sleeping pills at the beginning of the study, the mortality rate was about 15.7 percent, over the period of 12 years, while those who did not take the pills had a mortality rate of only 10.5 percent. “These medications aren’t candy, and taking them is far from harmless,” study researcher Geneviève Belleville, a professor at Université Laval in Québec, said in a statement.

The researchers have linked sleeping pills or anxiety-relieving medications with a 36 percent increase in the risk of dying during the 12-year period, after taking into account life threatening factors such as alcohol and tobacco consumption, physical health, physical activity level and symptoms of depression. The most significant difference in the mortality rates between those who took the pills and those who didn’t was seen in the group of people who were aged 55 to 64 and 65 to 74, according to the study.

The study that appeared in the September issue of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry showed that there are some factors that can explain the link between medication to treat insomnia and anxiety and high mortality rates. Besides the fact that they affect reaction time, alertness and coordination, contributing to falls and other accidents, these pills also aggravate certain breathing problems during sleep. Moreover, some of the drugs work on the central nervous system, being able to affect judgment, and so increasing the risk of suicide. “Given that cognitive behavioral therapies have shown good results in treating insomnia and anxiety, doctors should systematically discuss such therapies with their patients as an option. Combining a pharmacological approach in the short term with psychological treatment is a promising strategy for reducing anxiety and promoting sleep,” Belleville said.

The basic idea is that taking pills is not the first choice if you’re suffering from insomnia or anxiety. Going to therapy sessions may do you more good than taking pills. Taking into account that there are a lot of therapeutically methods right now, you can even skip the doctor’s and try doing some exercises to relieve stress and anxiety in your own house. Staying away from pills is the best thing you can do. However, if therapy does not work, your doctor may prescribe you some sleeping pills. Still, if that happens, make sure you take them exactly as prescribed, because they can cause a lot of damage.11