ABU DHABI // Experts are warning how easy – and potentially dangerous – it can be to become hooked on sleeping pills.
Over-the-counter or prescription sleeping pills can be so addictive that counsellors and doctors are seeing some people, mainly women, relying on such tablets to function.
Elena-Maria Andrioti, a counsellor at the Carbone Clinic in Dubai Healthcare City, said many use the tablets to alleviate stress or anxiety but then experience those very symptoms when trying to stop using medication.
“Sleeping pills can lead to psychological dependence, meaning that the individual’s usual coping mechanisms will wither as the ‘need’ for the sleeping pill increases,” she said. “The medication will become essential to a person’s life.”
Residents should be advised about alternative approaches such as sleep education, relaxation techniques and psychological therapy, she said.
Ms Andrioti said the reasons why people start taking sleeping pills vary from sleeping disorders such as insomnia, to alleviating stress or anxiety symptoms or to combat depression – one of the most common symptoms of which is changing or irregular sleep patterns.
Differing types and strengths of the medication can lead to varying withdrawal symptoms.
Medication such as benzodiazepines can have severe withdrawal effects ranging from pain, spasms, insomnia, heart palpitations and delusions, said the Dubai counsellor.
Mild sleeping aids can also have negative effects, she said.
Johanna Griffin, a personal development consultant and addiction specialist at Dubai’s LifeWorks counselling centre, said: “Some people do not realise they use one dose or tablet, then they use two, then the tolerance level gets to a place where they start to want more for the same feeling.”
Many do not realise what exactly they are taking and the potentially harmful effects of such medication taken in conjunction with others, she said.
“With over-the-counter drugs people have to be very aware of what they are using and that they can also be addictive.”
Dr Omran Bedir Gatee, an endocrinology, diabetes and metabolic disorders consultant at Burjeel Hospital, said despite being a controlled medication system, UAE health care provides a loophole through which several prescriptions can be issued at the same time.
“People can shop around and they can have multiple prescriptions,” he said.
Dr Gatee, a British expatriate, is finding that more people, especially women, are relying on sleeping pills to alleviate stressful situations. Medical practitioners, he said, should not be so willing to write or refer someone for a prescription, he said, especially those who have had a history of alcohol or drug abuse as this heightens risk of addiction.
“Doctors should instead recommend other medication that does not cause addiction but will make the patient comfortable,” he said.
“For example, for those with palpitations, one could write a prescription for beta blockers, which cause relaxation and relieves muscle tension but does not cause any sort of dependence.”
jbell@thenational.ae
