Non Habit Forming Sleep Aid. Myth or Reality?

Is there really such a thing as a non habit forming sleep aid? Aren’t all medications addictive to some degree? It’s true that many are. But sleep aids have the potential to make you dependent on them so that you’ll have to take something in order to fall asleep. This can be prevented by using the medication exactly as directed, and only when needed.

Unfortunately, not everyone does that. I don’t like to take pills at all, so I’m at a pretty low risk for dependency. But some people abuse the medication and then end up with worse problems because they grow depending on it.

The only pill that could be called a non habit forming sleep aid, one that could never make one person become dependent, would be a pill that does not work. All sleep aids are potentially addictive. But the degree by which each is addictive varies a great deal.

The fact is that the longer you use a sleep aid, the more likely you are to become dependent on it, period. That’s true whether it’s over the counter or prescribed. None of them are meant to be used indefinitely.

If you use any sleep aid for too long, you’ll most likely have to start taking more of it at one time for the same result. This happens as a result of your body adapting to tolerate the drug. This is often the first step toward dependency. Dependency occurs when you must have the drug to sleep, no matter how tired you are. Stopping a drug on which you’re dependent can cause withdrawal symptoms, ranging from mild to severe.

This all sounds pretty scary to risk just to get a decent night’s sleep, doesn’t it? Isn’t there a non habit forming sleep aid out there? As I said earlier, they all have the potential to make you depending. But the good news is that there are some that have much less risk of this than others.

Over the counter sleep aids generally come in herbal and non-herbal forms. The herbal pills usually are wholly herbal, as that’s their selling point. The non-herbal sleep aids contain one or more ingredients that are not herbal, and can contain only non-herbal ingredients as well. While these have the potential to make you dependent on them, that risk is very small with either of these types of aids.

Prescription insomnia medication, however, can’t make that claim. Because everything is chemical rather than herbal, every ingredient is potentially addictive.  And not only are prescription meds more potentially addictive, they also have a longer list of possible side effects.

So while a non habit forming sleep aid doesn’t exist, you can get as close as possible by choosing an over the counter sleep aid. The risk is so minimal that it’s most likely something you’ll never have to worry about. And you’ll have peace of mind and probably rest easier knowing that you’re not going to become dependent on an expensive and potentially dangerous prescription medication.