As a sleep physician, I am constantly confronted with sleeping pills and the misunderstanding that seems to be inherent to their existence. While I do feel like there are specific instances where sleeping pills are helpful, I think the vast majority of sleep experts and behavioral sleep therapists would generally frown upon their use. In this episode, we will cover:
- why I feel sleeping pills are largely unnecessary, particularly given the fact that everyone sleeps (Episode 2)
- to whom these pills are marketed and how ad prey upon fear of sleeplessness as a means to create a market for their product
- the surprisingly modest sleep improvement results (sleep latency, sleep efficiency) these medications produce and how these stand in direct opposition to what the average user thinks is happening
- the risk of sleeping pills
- how the relevance of these promoted benefits is of unclear significance
- failure of sleeping pill research to prove health or performance benefits
- the repetitive history of the sleeping pill cycle and how history has judged the fate of many that have come before
Produced by: Maeve Winter
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Thanks for listening and sleep well!