Addictions to prescription drugs for sleep

It’s a sad state of affairs when statistics come out about the number of people addicted to prescription drugs for sleep.  The world is going mad.

In the Telegraph this morning there was a big splash about the fact that one in four British adults are being prescribed potentially addictive drugs.

Apart from stories from my clients a report on LBC told us that Doctors issued nearly 71 million prescriptions for antidepressants which is a 97% increase compared to 2008.

In August, a US court fined Johnson & Johnson, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, a landmark $572m. The company was accused of a “cynical and deceitful brainwashing campaign” to drive up sales of its painkillers.  I feel that the excessive marketing of drugs should be more controlled.

Unfortunately, drug makers don’t want well people!

My view is that if we’re out of balance, medicine is of no use.  When we’re in balance medicine is of no need.  A balanced human being sleeps at night.

Balance is the thing we should all be looking for before drugs

I’m not against all drugs at all, but what I am against is the use of drugs to cover up lifestyle issues that have accumulated over years into sleep issues and depression.

The whole reason I came up with Sleepology® was to address this exact problem. I work with people to find out the root cause of the sleep disturbance and exhaustion.   I provide a programme to move them from where they are to a more balanced sleep pattern and better energy levels.

Whilst I understand when you’re completely exhausted you just need to sleep and the temptation of going to the doctors for medication is high. It’s no good in the long term. Sleep medication supresses your REM sleep which is when your brain is clearing and digesting everything that’s come in to your space during the day.

It’s a bit like a bin, when it’s full, it needs emptying. REM sleep does that.  It refreshes the brain ready for the next day.

If you supress your REM sleep long term, it will usually result in depression which is why many of my clients end up on anti-depressants as well as sleep medication.

I truly recommend trying to work on the root cause rather than mask it with sleeping pills.  One of the things I do with clients is suggest they take a melatonin test.  It often gives you the answer.

This is what happened to one of my clients