Drugs Used for Overcoming Sleeplessness

Sleep, like wakefulness, is a natural phenomenon. Humans spend almost one-third of their lifetime sleeping. During sleep the activity of the brain is altered, but not completely suppressed. It is an accepted fact that periodically the body needs rest. Nobody knows why the brain or any other organ should need rest, nor what happens during sleep that is beneficial. Only one thing is certain - that sleep is necessary. If a person is not allowed to sleep for 2 or 3 days mental co-ordination gets impaired. Deprivation of sleep increases suggestibility and is, therefore, an effective technique for brain washing.

How much sleep is essential? Children sleep longer than adults. Old people tend to sleep less. Among adults some feel completely rested after 6 hours of sleep; others may need 8 or 9 hours. Mahatma Gandhi used to sleep for only 4 hours, and used to wake up fresh. Stalin needed only a very short sleep and used to receive officials at the odd hour of 3.00 am.

In order to sleep well, some need ideal conditions: a comfortable bed in a noiseless room with controlled temperature. There are others who manage to sleep soundly even on the hard wooden berth of a second class rail compartment. It is really wonderful to be able to sleep well, but there are times when it is not possible to do so due to circumstances. Travellers going long distances on jet planes have to readjust their sleeping hours in a new place. Presidents and Prime Ministers take injections of sleep-inducing drugs to overcome travel-induced insomnia and to readjust to new working hours when travelling abroad.

Sleeplessness or insomnia means difficulty in falling or stay asleep, reduced total sleep times or disturbed sleep. Sleeplessness or insomnia may result from various factors such as emotional trauma, fear, apprehension, anguish, drugs, or certain diseases. Loss of sleep for a day or two may not pose any problem, but prolonged insomnia can cause physical and mental fatigue, leading to increase in automobile accidents, alcohol consumption and poor performance and in such cases, medical treatment becomes necessary. A large number of sedatives, hypnotics (causing sleep ), and anti-anxiety drugs are available for this, but the greatest difficulty is that all these have varying degree of addiction on potential and their withdrawal or discontinuation may pose serious, problems. The withdrawal effects may be in the form of anxiety, insomnia, restlessness, tremors, weakness, and convulsions and if untreated, may result in coma (unconsciousness) and death. Since they cause addiction, the drug laws prohibit the sale of these drugs without a prescription.

Treatment and Drugs

The drugs for treatment of insomnia may contain a single drug or a combination of two or more drugs with similar effect. However, none of the combinations offer any advantage over a single drugs. They only add to the cost of treatment.

Pentobarbitone (Nembutal), Secobarbitone (Seconal, Secobutal)

These two drugs are barbiturates which inhibit REM* sleep (dreamy sleep) and do not produce natural or refreshing sleep. In view of their potential abuse for committing suicide and a marked addiction potential, these have almost completely been replaced by the benzodiazepine family of drugs.