rations that can mask the symptom of poor sleep but which may prove troublesome in the long-term. In fact, according to the aforementioned AASM, “sufficient evidence does not exist to support over-the-counter sleep aids as an effective treatment for insomnia”, a caution that the AASM stresses applies to both allopathic sleep remedies (which most often contain an anithistamine that produces drowsiness as a side effect) and herbal sleep therapies such as tryptophan and melatonin, although clearly, many people don’t heed that advice since the AASM also acknowledges that “the sale of herbal supplements for sleep is now a “multi-billion dollar industry”.
.....I differ with the AASM experts, however, in that I believe that occasional use of one of these over-the-counter medications or herbal supplements is OK so long as 1) you are familiar with the side effects and the potential interactions with other medications you may be on (it is best to consult a pharmacist about this), and 2) you restrict the use of such products to occasional interventions only.
.....Once you have a diagnosis (and most often, of course, happily, that diagnosis will be “Hey, Joe, you’re right, it’s just stress. That’ll be $30.00, please. Next.)”, the next step is treatment for that specific problem (if that’s warranted) or some type of sleep remedy, of which there are several available, such as behaviour modification, hypnotherapy, and the one I want to flag: cognitive psychotherapy because in many studies cognitive therapy has been shown to be at least as useful as sleeping pills for chronic sleep problems.
.....As for prescribed sleeping pills, these are clearly the favoured method to deal with sleep difficulties, favoured both by doctors and patients. The upside for sleeping pills (of which there are a whole bunch to choose) is that they work well in the short term and for occasional sleep difficulties, but sleeping pills also have significant potential downsides such as, of course, developing an undue reliance on them.
.....And when all else fails, a sure-fire centuries-old remedy is to simply sit down with an audio or video of the collected speeches of any Liberal politician, especially those of the newest boy on the block, Stephane Dion. Hey, let me assure you, a few words on the environment from this riveting speaker, and you’ll be off in slumberland before you know it, so long, of course, that you’re not splitting your sides laughing at the distance between this guy’s words on the environment and the actual policies the Libs pursued.
Dr. Art Hister can be heard on CKNW and other Corus Radio Network stations on House Calls on Saturdays at 10 AM, as well as seen on Global TV news on Saturday mornings at 9:20. |
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