page_title: Hypnotic
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Hypnotic / History
caption_attribution_description: A corrupt old man tries to seduce a woman by urging her to take a hypnotic draught in her drink Iconographic Collections Keywords: Date Rape Drug; Seduction; Charles Etienne Pierre Motte; Drinking; Sexual Harassment
context_page_description: Hypnotic, or soporific drugs, commonly known as sleeping pills, are a class of psychoactive drugs whose primary function is to induce sleep and for the treatment of insomnia, or for surgical anesthesia.
  This group is related to sedatives. Whereas the term sedative describes drugs that serve to calm or relieve anxiety, the term hypnotic generally describes drugs whose main purpose is to initiate, sustain, or lengthen sleep. Because these two functions frequently overlap, and because drugs in this class generally produce dose-dependent effects they are often referred to collectively as sedative-hypnotic drugs.
  Hypnotic drugs are regularly prescribed for insomnia and other sleep disorders, with over 95% of insomnia patients being prescribed hypnotics in some countries. Many hypnotic drugs are habit-forming and, due to many factors known to disturb the human sleep pattern, a physician may instead recommend changes in the environment before and during sleep, better sleep hygiene, the avoidance of caffeine or other stimulating substances, or behavioral interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia before prescribing medication for sleep.
context_section_description: Hypnotica was a class of somniferous drugs and substances tested in medicine of the 1890s and later, including: Urethan, Acetal, Methylal, Sulfonal, paraldehyde, Amylenhydrate, Hypnon, Chloralurethan and Ohloralamid or Chloralimid.
  Research about using medications to treat insomnia evolved throughout the last half of the 20th century. Treatment for insomnia in psychiatry dates back to 1869 when chloral hydrate was first used as a soporific. Barbiturates emerged as the first class of drugs that emerged in the early 1900s, after which chemical substitution allowed derivative compounds. Although the best drug family at the time (less toxic and with fewer side effects) they were dangerous in overdose and tended to cause physical and psychological dependence.
  During the 1970s, quinazolinones and benzodiazepines were introduced as safer alternatives to replace barbiturates; by the late 1970s benzodiazepines emerged as the safer drug.
  Benzodiazepines are not without their drawbacks; substance dependence is possible, and deaths from overdoses sometimes occur, especially in combination with alcohol and/or other depressants. Questions have been raised as to whether they disturb sleep architecture.
  Nonbenzodiazepines are the most recent development (1990s–present). Although it's clear that they are less toxic than their predecessors, barbiturates, comparative efficacy over benzodiazepines have not been established. Without longitudinal studies, it is hard to determine; however some psychiatrists recommend these drugs, citing research suggesting they are equally potent with less potential for abuse.
  Other sleep remedies that may be considered "sedative-hypnotics" exist; psychiatrists will sometimes prescribe medicines off-label if they have sedating effects. Examples of these include mirtazapine (an antidepressant), clonidine (generally prescribed to regulate blood pressure), quetiapine (an antipsychotic), and the over-the-counter sleep aid diphenhydramine (Benadryl – an antihistamine). Off-label sleep remedies are particularly useful when first-line treatment is unsuccessful or deemed unsafe (for example, in patients with a history of substance abuse).
caption: Le Vieux Séducteur by Charles Motte [fr].
  (A corrupt old man tries to seduce a woman by urging her to take a hypnotic draught in her drink)
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