We have arrived at the final set of pathways to high quality sleep. There is both good and bad news regarding this fourth set. It is important to note first that sleep aids are often the most direct and immediate means of improving sleep quality. We don’t need to be concerned about comfortable pillows, a quiet sleep environment, or a previous day of healthy eating and exercise. We can pop a pill and glide into sleepy land. We can strap on the breathing device and look forward to an uninterrupted night of sleep. Our sleeping partner is thankful that we are not snoring. We can overcome the challenge of jet lag having just travelled halfway around the world via a large-body 747. This is the good news. The major benefits associated with use of sleep aids have been realized.
On the negative side are the many cautions voiced by physicians and other health care experts about dangers in the use of many sleep-aid medications and the downsides associated with the often cumbersome and sleep-disturbing use of sleep-aid appliances. Unfortunately, the negative side becomes quite difficult to assess given that there is often strong disagreement regarding the hazards associated with some medications and the effectiveness of most appliances. None of this is made any easier in a world filled with multiple ads in which specific medications and applications are marketed. It seems that considerable money can be made off the sale of many medications and appliances. The profit margins are very high and there is a strong desire on the part of many people to find a direct and immediate solution to their sleep quality challenges:
“I need sleep right now and don’t have time for adopting new life habits or redesigning my bedroom!”
“My life partner said I need to get something to stop snoring right now or they will go to the other bedroom or living room couch in order to get a good night of sleep!”
“I simply can’t afford another night of restless sleep. I have too much work to do when I am awake.”
“I will take a pill only this one time. It’s an emergency!”
Unfortunately, the pill might only work for a week or two and then our body adjusts to it and we find it hard to sleep once again. Our partner finds that the appliance I am wearing is just as annoying as the snoring. They still threatened to find another place to sleep. We continue to have too much work to do and soon become addicted to the pill we are taking. We find a good excuse (another emergency) to take that pill again. We are soon hooked and require an increasing number of pills to take at bedtime or require a second (or second and third) pill part of the way through the night. Bodily adaptation, inconvenience and addiction all too often accompany the use of specific sleep aids.
However, these aids can be quite beneficial if used in an appropriate manner and if carefully monitored with regard to not only effectiveness, but also pattern of usage.
As I have done in previous essays in this series on quality sleep, I provide some suggestions in this essay about sleep aids and begin by offering a chart summarizing findings from my Pathways to Sleep project. This chart lists some of the sleep aid pathways, as well as ratings by experts and users, along with costs and accessibility. In each case, a rating of “3” is high and a rating of “1” is low. A “v” indicates that this pathway is controversial (wide variation in ratings—high variance score). A “D” indicates that this aid has often been labeled as “dangerous.”
