Doctor Nguyen Huu Khanh, a First Degree Specialist at the Neuroscience Center, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, explains that sleeping pills help individuals with insomnia fall asleep more easily during periods of stress or sleep disorders. However, using sleeping pills in overdose or for prolonged periods without medical guidance negatively impacts both physical and mental health.

Drug dependence: If sleeping pills are used frequently or if the dosage is arbitrarily increased, the body becomes accustomed to the sedative effects and gradually loses its natural ability to regulate sleep. When discontinuing the medication, many individuals experience worsened insomnia, anxiety, restlessness, or sleepless nights.

Abusing sleeping pills carries many health risks. *Photo created by AI*.

Daytime drowsiness and reduced alertness: Sleeping pills, especially long-acting types, can still affect the following morning if taken at the wrong dosage or too late. Users may experience grogginess, slowed reflexes, and poor concentration while working, studying, or driving. This increases the risk of accidents, reduces productivity, and impacts daily activities.

Memory impairment: Long-term abuse of sleeping pills disrupts the brain's memory formation process. Users often report forgetfulness, reduced concentration, difficulty recalling new information, or transient amnesia after waking. This adverse effect is more pronounced in older adults, where it can be mistaken for symptoms of dementia.

Impaired motor function: Sleeping pills can relax muscles and reduce alertness, increasing the risk of users losing balance when getting up and walking at night. Older adults or those with musculoskeletal conditions are more prone to falls, leading to injuries.

Respiratory disorders: Some sleeping pills can slow breathing, especially in individuals with lung disease, sleep apnea, or respiratory failure. When combined with alcohol or other sedatives, sleeping pills can cause severe respiratory depression. Improper use of sleeping pills can also lead to sleep disturbances, causing patients to wake up multiple times or experience less restorative sleep.

Doctor Huu Khanh advises individuals experiencing prolonged insomnia to seek evaluation at a neurology department to determine the underlying cause. Insomnia can be linked to stress, anxiety disorders, depression, thyroid disease, chronic pain, or sleep-related respiratory disorders. To diagnose and treat insomnia, doctors may prescribe polysomnography to assess sleep quality or recommend non-pharmacological treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to reduce medication dependence.

Polysomnography helps assess sleep quality and detect underlying disorders. *Photo: Tam Anh General Hospital*.

Patients should maintain a healthy lifestyle, limit afternoon caffeine, avoid alcohol, reduce screen time, exercise regularly, and keep their sleeping environment quiet and cool to improve sleep quality. Supplementing with natural extracts from blueberry and ginkgo biloba also helps increase blood flow to the brain, combat free radicals, enhance neural connections, and improve sleep. Individuals with insomnia should only use medication when absolutely necessary, under a doctor's prescription and guidance, to ensure safety.

Trong Nghia