The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain warns: self-medication with sleeping pills can harm your health.
Half of people suffering from insomnia are themselves diagnosed and, not seeking medical advice, take sleeping pills.
Nevertheless, experts pay attention to the fact that insomnia is often a companion of other problems related to physical or mental health, which must be treated first.
This warning was based on a survey of 2077 people.
Insomnia is the difficulty of falling asleep, maintaining sleep, or getting enough good quality sleep from night to night. One in three people in the UK is thought to suffer from bouts of insomnia.
It can be caused by mental disorders such as depression, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia. Other diseases, including heart disease, Alzheimer's, and hormonal problems can also interfere with the normal structure of sleep.
During the survey, 30% of people admitted that they took sleeping pills for over a month without consulting a specialist, while 14% were self-medicating for six months.
Experts warn against the long-term use of any medication on the basis of self-diagnosis. Ultimately, the symptoms are eliminated, but not the root cause of the problem.
"Sleeping pills can be effective for short-term treatment of mild insomnia, but should not be taken for a long time without consulting a doctor, because they often hide serious health problems that, if left untreated, can worsen," says one Johnson pharmacist.
