Warning over link between drug addiction and insomnia

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by Change | 11 Sep 2009

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People who suffer from insomnia could become more prone to drink and drug addictions as they attempt to find ways to sleep, it has been suggested.

Insomnia sufferers should be careful how they treat their problem to avoid it leading to alcohol abuse or a drug addiction.

The New York Daily News discusses the issue of insomnia and points out that people often self-medicate the problem, taking sleeping tablets or in some cases merely drinking alcohol to help them relax and drift off to sleep.

However, the newspaper's resident doctor Dave Moore warns that such an approach can be a dangerous and slippery slope towards an addiction problem, for which a stint in a rehab clinic could be required.

Dr Moore also considers the fallout from the death of pop superstar Michael Jackson, pointing out that there have been suggestions the singer used increasingly strong medication to help him sleep after becoming addicted to painkillers and other prescription drugs.

He explained: "[Jackson] was fighting what we call the rebound effect - where the body tries to fight off the sedation and bounces back to a higher level of agitation. That means it takes ever higher levels of booze or depressants to get back to sleep."

Police in Los Angeles, where the self-styled King of Pop died, continue to investigate his death and are treating it as homicide due to the levels of anaesthetic found in his body.

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