Sleeping pills or hypnotic drugs have always been observed as one of the prime factors in increasing the risk of premature death. If you are taking them for more than a period of three weeks, you are slowly becoming dependant on them for your sleep as well as mental peace. Although these are medicines, they have the quality of making you addicted to them, and some people even depend on these pills, just as an alcoholic depends on alcohol.

The probability of premature death from an accident, or heart failure, increases significantly when you start depending on sleeping pills. This is why doctors advise you to avoid sleeping pills as much as possible. If your doctor feels that your body needs sleeping pills for restful sleep, he might prescribe some medication to calm your nerves down, so that you fall asleep peacefully; but the doses he prescribes will be on the lower side.

Read on to learn the seven most important reasons to avoid taking sleeping pills –

1) Tolerance Building: Your body gradually starts building a tolerance to the doses of the sleeping pills you are taking every day. Once in awhile, if you’re suffering from excessive stress or tension, then taking sleeping pills is justified as you might not get the required amount of the sleep due to pressure or stress. But once you make it a habit, your body adapts to the dosage; and before long, you will need to take strong sleeping pills to fulfill your sleep requirements. This is the reason why doctors don’t prescribe these pills for more than 10-15 days use. Once the stress period is over, you should get sleep naturally, without depending on the medicine.

2) Risk in Driving: As mentioned above, sleeping pills are one of the primary causes of so many premature deaths from accidents. If you have taken sleeping pills, and are driving, there is always a risk of not assessing the situation on the road correctly; which can lead to fatal accidents. There are certain hypnotic drugs which remain in the blood stream until the next morning and after. This provides your body with a feeling of drowsiness, and thus there are high chances of you crashing your car or bike against some other car or barricades on the roads.

3) Erratic Behavior: Drugs like triazolam, which contain benzodiazepines and other drugs of the same group, can cause certain side effects like sleepwalking or amnesia in your body. Though there are many who do strange things while sleeping under the influence of these pills – whispering or talking being among the common ones –  in some cases, the things they do under the influence of these pills can actually put them in dangerous situations. Imagine, for instance waking up in the middle of night and not realizing where you are? It is important for you to monitor any changes in your behavior after taking the pills; and if you feel its required, immediately consult your doctor.

4) Cancer: It has been found through various studies that people who take sleeping pills are more prone to cancer. While the evidence linking sleeping pills to cancer is admittedly not very strong, it is clear that these pills can do harm to various organs in the body, potentially causing cancer or other chronic conditions. So it is definitely safer if you have trouble sleeping, to opt for alternative methods of dealing with your problem.

5) Premature Death: If you have ever been on sleeping pills, you must know that after a certain point of time, you feel drowsy and even start losing your balance. If you don’t get into bed within a few minutes of taking medicine, you might fall as well, due to the feeling of sleepiness and impending unconsciousness.This is because your feet balance your movements, and when there is a hypnotic drug in your bloodstream, it controls the nervous system. There are times when the drug will take over your nervous system and make you unbalanced; causing you to fall, and possibly serious, even fatally, injure yourself. As already mentioned, driving or riding a bike while under the influence of sleeping pills also significantly opens you up to the risk of an accident on the road, which might also prove fatal.

6) Addiction: Popping sleeping pills can become an addictive habit, not dissimilar to alcoholism or drug addiction. This is the reason why chemist shops don’t sell hypnotic drugs and sleeping pills without proper prescriptions. If a person is taking sleeping pills for a prolonged period of time, then it is difficult for them to wean themselves off it. They become entirely dependent on the medicine to provide them sleep.

7) Nerve Issues: It is evident from various research studies that strong sleeping pills adversely affect the nervous system of the body, and essentially takes control of it if you take high doses for a prolonged period of time. Avoiding sleeping pills would be a great way to significantly lower your risk of developing serious neurological problems.

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