Today is no different, except that nowadays drugs are often used to induce sleep. This database examines the safety of some of those drugs as well as coping with the problem without chemicals.
Insomnia is the triumph of mind over mattress, as one joke has it.
But for many people insomnia is no laughing matter. In 1977, about two million of these insomniacs took prescription sleep medications every night for two consecutive months or longer. But the recent recall of OTC sleep aids containing methapyrilene and a previous FDA warning about the efficacy of OTC sleep aids, coupled with an Institute of Medicine report on prescription sedatives and hypnotics, has brought into question the wisdom of indiscriminate and widespread use of both OTC and prescription sleep medications. In 1975, FDA's expert panel on sleep aids, daytime sedatives, and stimulants cautioned those with chronic sleep problems to seek medical help. Although most sleep aids containing these ingredients were reformulated after the panel's report, some remain on the market.