Hangover
It is known that sleeping pills shorten the duration of delta sleep. The feeling of lack of sleep makes the morning “hangover” even more unpleasant. Almost all sleeping drugs, even over-the-counter, have side effects such as weakness, decreased mental alertness, anxiety, and a feeling of being lost in space. Such a hangover can be very difficult: it will prevent you from thinking and reacting quickly, which makes driving a car or operating some kind of equipment extremely dangerous. In my experience, there are no sleeping pills that would not cause a hangover to one degree or another.
Sleeping pills that do not cause a “hangover” does not exist.
Depression and mood
A hangover from sleeping pills is usually inextricably linked to a bad mood. Honestly, the feeling of such a hangover can be much worse than the feeling of lack of sleep. The killing reduces the duration of not only delta, but also quick sleep, which prevents a person from recovering his mental and emotional state. Taking this into account, it is not surprising that sleeping pills can cause anxiety and depression during the daytime.
Since insomnia can cause depression, sleeping pills are often considered a cure for depression, and, conversely, depression often causes insomnia. Thus, people suffering from insomnia are sometimes prescribed antidepressants, such as Prozac, although they have never declared that they are in a state of depression.
However, recent studies have shown that both of the above statements are incorrect. Analysis of the information obtained in the course of clinical trials made it possible to conclude that patients taking sedatives are much more prone to depression. Popular drugs such as zolpidem, zaleplon and eszopiclone increased the risk of depression by half compared with placebo pills6. In addition, it turned out that long-term use of sedatives significantly increased the risk of suicide, especially in men. According to statistics, men who take sleeping pills every night increase the risk of suicide by a factor of seven! 7 It is also unwise to prescribe a sleeping pill in the hope that it will ease or prevent depression. Instead of helping the patient, the sleeping pill will probably only cause him depression.