Psychotherapy and Over-the-Counter Sleep Aids

Eighty-five percent of insomniacs never seek medical help. Believing that their doctor can't help them or will prescribe habit-forming prescription sleeping pills or psychotherapy, insomniacs have become an epidemic of silent sufferers who have been left to fend for themselves, typically spending years battling insomnia futilely and suffering needlessly.

Many insomniacs have turned to expensive, time-consuming psychotherapy in the belief, or their physician's belief, that insomnia is caused by "psychological problems". However, there is no scientific proof that psychotherapy is effective for insomnia, in large part because the majority of insomniacs do not have a psychiatric problem such as anxiety or depression. This is why trying to treat insomnia as a problem caused by psychiatric factors is destined to fail and only contributes to the stigma of insomnia being a "psychiatric" problem.

Millions of other insomniacs have turned to over the counter nighttime sleep aids such as Tylenol PM, Excedrin PM, and Anacin PM, whose manufacturers have capitalized on the insomnia epidemic. These products, cloaked in the brand names of trusted medicines, avoid the stigma associated with prescription sleeping pills. Consequently, they are one of the fastest growing health care products today with sales soaring to over $100 million dollars in one year. Yet, in truth, there is no scientific evidence that these medications are more effective than a placebo.

Like prescription sleeping pills, over the counter sleeping aids can have unwanted side effects, lose effectiveness over time, and bolster the belief that the cure for insomnia comes from something external, which can foster psychological dependency and feelings of helplessness. Most importantly, these sleep aids don't cure insomnia because they don't treat the causes.