Sleeping Pills Addiction
Written by: THE BALANCE
Medically reviewed by Dr. Sarah Boss, MD
Last updated: January 19, 2026
Fact checked
Quick Summary
  • Have you ever felt the need to sleep so badly that you tossed and turned in bed for hours at a time?
  • These pharmaceutical sleep aids were originally created as a short-term solution for sleep-related issues; however, their long-term use and abuse continue to grow with time.
  • Many people who continue to use sleeping pills are unaware of their addiction potential, which can completely mess up their lives in a blink of an eye.

Have you ever felt the need to sleep so badly that you tossed and turned in bed for hours at a time? The very problem has forced experts to come up with sleeping pills. These pharmaceutical sleep aids were originally created as a short-term solution for sleep-related issues; however, their long-term use and abuse continue to grow with time.

Many people who continue to use sleeping pills are unaware of their addiction potential, which can completely mess up their lives in a blink of an eye. Such people frequently up their doses without any instructions from a doctor when they want to sleep urgently. Such behaviors only increase their tolerance and risk of developing dependence and addiction.

Because the side effects of sleeping pills are not as strong and visible as those of other drugs, many fail to identify if they have an addiction. Others who realise it have no idea how this addiction can be detrimental to their lives. For both types of people, this article will provide insights into sleeping pills addiction, how to recognize it, and the way it can affect their lives.

Anyone can fall victim to sleeping pills addiction, regardless of age, gender, socioeconomic status, or race. However, certain factors may make its incidence more common in people. These factors include the following: (source: NIDA, 2024)

Genetics

Some people have a high genetic predisposition to developing a sleeping pills addiction. For such people, the problem seems to run in families, making them more vulnerable to it even after just a few uses.

Environmental Factors

Being a part of a society where using sleeping pills is a common coping mechanism can put you at high risk for developing an addiction to these drugs. This continuous normalisation of sleeping pills can also come from enabling family members and friends. You may find many loved ones who casually offer these pills to you as soon as you develop a minor sleep-related inconvenience, such as due to a long flight. This enabling attitude can influence your ability to judge the effects of sleeping pills on your health and life.

Underlying Mental Health Problems

Some mental health issues, like anxiety and depression, can make it harder for many to go about their daily business at a normal pace. Similarly, they also make the victims struggle to get sleep every night. Consequently, such people may resort to using sleeping pills to aid their sleep in the long run, putting themselves at risk of addiction. (source: NIMH, 2024)

Sleeping pills can put anyone at risk of physical dependence, especially if they take them for more than two weeks. Most people often fail to understand how quickly tolerance can develop with these pills, especially if they pop an extra pill every now and then. This tolerance eventually results in physical dependence or even a full-fledged addiction.

Given the seriousness of sleeping pills addiction, it is crucial to familiarise yourself with its common signs and symptoms. These symptoms relate to behavioral, psychological, and physical aspects of health and commonly include the following:

  • Needing progressively larger doses of sleeping pills to fall asleep
  • Trying to quit multiple times but failing
  • Isolating oneself from family, friends, and social engagements of all sorts
  • Ignoring professional, familial, and educational obligations
  • Feeling frequently detached or confused
  • Experiencing uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms upon missing a dose
  • Craving sleeping pills all the time
  • No longer engaging in fun activities and hobbies
  • Experiencing frequent mood swings
  • Engaging in dangerous or risky behaviors under the influence of sleeping pills
  • Bottom of Form

If you are wondering why you should immediately seek help for sleeping pills addiction, know that this problem carries the potential to affect different aspects of your life negatively. Outlined below are some common ways this type of drug abuse can hurt you, your loved ones, and the community you live in. This knowledge will better equip you to protect yourself and others from a similar danger in the future. (source: NIMH, 2024 (Depression))

It hurts you physically.

Drug abuse of any kind, including sleeping pills addiction, is extremely harmful to your body. It may lead to high blood pressure, alter normal heart rhythms, and jeopardise your overall life quality. You may find it difficult to sleep peacefully without using these pills every night, forcing you to continue using them in the long run. This continuous use also puts you at a high risk of an overdose or permanent changes in the brain that affect cognition and other aspects of mental processing.

It destroys your career.

No matter which sleeping pill you take, abusing it can seriously affect your ability to land a new job or maintain an old one. In a short judgment, the impaired judgment and fussiness that sleeping pills cause stop you from performing your duties well. In the long run, the desperation to abuse these pills may lead to excessive absences, lying, and other undependable behaviors that most employers fail to tolerate.

It destroys your mental health.

In addition to negatively affecting your physical health, sleeping pills addiction can seriously affect your mental well-being. Paranoia, anxiety, depression, delusions, and hallucinations are some problems that may stem from this type of drug abuse. Moreover, if a person with pre-existing mental health acquires this addiction, it may exacerbate their struggles. In some cases, these effects on mental health are permanent and do not reverse even after discontinuing the offending drugs. (source: SAMHSA, 2024)

It financially drains you.

Sleeping pills cost you money. So the more you abuse them, the more of them you need to support this addiction. Together with the aforementioned detriment it can have when it comes to maintaining a job; sleeping pills addiction can easily collapse your financial future.

It snatches away your freedom.

Difficulty keeping a job, struggling with finances, and facing mental health problems can ultimately land anyone in trouble with the law. Whether it is committing crimes due to drug-induced delusions, pursuing illegal means of financial gains, or stealing from others, each of these behaviors can make you end up in the same place – jail.

It breaks your romantic relationships.

Every healthy romantic relationship needs trust to strengthen and flourish. Unfortunately, sleeping pills addiction often forces individuals to practice deceitful behaviors that breach this trust. An addict may commonly lie about the money they spend on sleeping pills, be dishonest about their whereabouts, or hide their substance abuse habits. These behaviors, in turn, destroy intimate relationships with no possibility of a patch-up. (source: FindTreatment.gov, 2024)

It hurts your friendships.

The detrimental changes in personality secondary to sleeping pills addiction can also hurt friendships. A lack of patience, a short temper, self-serving habits, and decreased interest in others are some of the behaviors stemming from this addiction that negatively affect friendships.

It distances you from your family.

The more you abuse sleeping pills, the more your priorities shift towards these drugs, crushing your family life in the process. For example, this addiction may force you to take a backseat at an important family event, such as a birthday, a baby shower, or even a wedding. This prioritisation of drug use over your loved ones quickly leads to self-alienation and tarnishes family relationships.

If any information mentioned in the article resonates with you or a loved one, you need help. It is entirely possible to overcome sleeping pills addiction with perseverance and hard work. Doing it alone is difficult and exceptionally dangerous, so it is better to seek professional assistance to make the process easier and more comfortable. Multiple addiction rehabs are working all across the UK to help people battling chronic sleeping pills addiction through detox services, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, and aftercare programming. (source: NICE, 2022)

Remember, as long as you are willing to change your life, help will always be available. Contact a luxury rehab center to begin your recovery journey for a healthier and happier life.

FAQs

Can sleeping pills addiction cause rebound insomnia? What is it anyway?

When people with sleeping pills addiction withdraw from these drugs, they experience a resurgence of all sleep-related issues. Known as rebound insomnia, this side effect usually hits those who quit sleeping pills cold turkey or reduce their dose suddenly without professional help. Rebound insomnia is mostly worse than the original sleep issues they were struggling with before taking sleeping pills and may lead to disturbing dreams and consequent panic attacks. No matter how severe it is, remember that you must never consider rebound insomnia as a reason to keep abusing sleeping pills. It is possible to withdraw from these sleep aids while avoiding this dreadful side effect by seeking professional help.

Are sleeping pills addictive? How quickly does addiction develop?

Yes, sleeping pills carry a high abuse potential and can make people dependent on them for as quickly as seven days. Almost all of these people experience severe withdrawal symptoms when they try to quit using these pills. The withdrawal symptoms due to sleeping pills addiction may continue for weeks, depending on the user’s gender, age, duration of use, and dosage levels. (source: APA, 2023)

My doctor has prescribed me sleeping pills. What is the best way to use it?

Most experts recommend taking sleeping pills just before bedtime. You must carefully read the doctor’s instructions on the prescription label and follow them closely to ensure maximum benefits while avoiding the risk of addiction. Give the medication some time to produce results and do not increase or decrease the dose on your own without consulting a doctor.

Is it dangerous to take sleeping pills with alcohol?

Yes, mixing alcohol with almost any medication, including sleeping pills, is extremely dangerous. The combination may cause breathing to stop, leading to death if no help arrives. Most sleeping pills have a warning on their labels to never combine them with alcohol. In addition to alcohol, you must also not consume grapefruit or its juice while taking sleeping pills. Grapefruit can increase the absorption of the sleeping pill into your bloodstream and prolong the time it stays in the body. These effects may lead to overdose and over-sedation, which can prove fatal.

Can sleeping pills kill you?

Unfortunately, sleeping pills do carry the potential to kill users, particularly due to overdosage. Studies suggest that people who take 1 to 18 sleeping pills annually are up to 3.5 times more likely to die within the follow-up period of two and a half years. This risk of death increases as you increase the number of pills consumed annually.

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