Sleeping pills have been a universal means of relieving sleep-deprived individuals. They desperately seek relief to those sufferable sleepless nights. Children, too, are spoon-fed medications with similar ingredients to those prescribed to adults with sleep disorders. Recently, however, there is growing concern over some of the negative short and long-term effects it has on adults and children. Sedative-hypnotic sleeping pill users, for one, are not given ample warning about some of the side-effects. The communication chain has been broken, additional resources.
Many common children’s cough syrups and other over-the-counter children medications use the same medical ingredients that are prescribed to adults to aid in their sleep. Sleeping pills create a hypnotic effect on people and also can form a dependency similar to that of alcohol. In fact sleeping pills are considered to be highly addictive. So the effect on a small child’s growing mind and body will feel the same effect, only magnified. It’s frightening when you think of it.
As with many drugs that produce an addictive side-effect, users may feel they are gaining a benefit from the pill, but the underlying addictive tendencies make this extremely dangerous to children and young adults.
Sleeping pills, believe it or not, have the same effect on children and adults at night as they do to during the day. They not only impair consciousness, but a child’s judgment, precious memory, and intelligence can be damaged–with the potential for long-term negative side effects. It’s rather ironic; when you ask an insomniac, they’ll respond, “I feel that sleeping pills help me get a restful night’s sleep…” when, in effect, it is actually instilling misperceptions on the mind. The sleeping pill plays with the mind. With children who take cough remedies or other medications that state they promote a restful sleep, your child’s daytime performance can lead to similar negative side effects.
Pharmaceutical companies are actually working on reducing side-effects of sleeping pills. However, they are not focusing on decreasing all the side-effects. There are many teens who suffer from sleeping disorders. Many teens under this category are also the individual who is prone to stay up all night with friends and sleep in late on weekends. These can be detrimental and disruptive to a person’s body clock. Even morning coffee, if used excessively, can lead to sleeping-related problems among teens. This, in turn, leads them to use sleeping pill as a remedy.
Many teens find sleep-inducing properties in various over-the-counter medications. The United States pharmaceutical companies and drug stores are now making an attempt to stop to this. Close tabs are kept on people who attempt to purchase over-the-counter sleep remedies or other cough suppressants with similar ingredients.
In the end, it is up parents and care-givers to pay attention to where their children go and when they choose to be out at night. It all starts and ends with communication. If a family has an open system of communication where everyone feels a sense of trust and unity, then it’s much easier to monitor and keep everyone informed on the harmful potential for abusing sleeping pills.