Sleepless in Lawrenceville

Drugs are never the answer! Not true! Sorry Bill. Sometimes drugs are needed for various reasons. Here I am defending the medical profession again ... Thank god I am not currently defending the legal profession. Everyone in my family but me is in the medical profession, including psychiatry. I've had an earful my whole life. Drugs can be used to effectively treat many diseases. For instance, my antiobiotics and other meds just cured my bacterial sinus infection and asthmatic bronchitis. OK, that's obvious. Meds work if properly prescribed and used. End of report. Now, sleep aids for insomnia are not a "never" use. You must just be extremely careful. I know people that have become addicted to sleep meds too. I know people that use them infrequently and responsibly and successfully. If you have addictive tendencies or a past history, do not use them, to be sure. But they do have a limited purpose. Especially if they might save your sanity in the short term or during a crisis. I have stated my views that they are an occasional short term solution, not a "cure" to hard core insomnia. There are alternative treatments and I have detailed them. Many people have reasons to be up at night. It could be anything -- family troubles, illness, pain, depression, traumatic stress syndrome, horrific memories, marital difficulties, hormones, or something as simple as worrying about your children or the mortgage or a job issue. Insomnia can be "inspired" by virtually anything. Different treatments work for different people. For some people, just "going away in their mind" will not work, although it is a viable strategy. You have to take on the individual here. Telling someone they are "weak" if they use drugs is no good. Telling someone they are "weak" if they have insomnia is no good. (I'm not saying you did that, I'm just pointing out that it is highly counterproductive, as it is proven that many insomnia sufferers have low self esteem, probably because they are too snackered to think straight.) So let's fit the specific remedy to the individual person or problem and not over-generalize here. To each his own. Just like swimming, different strokes for different folks.

Drugs are never the answer! Not true! Sorry Bill. Sometimes drugs are needed for various reasons. Here I am defending the medical profession again ... Thank god I am not currently defending the legal profession. Everyone in my family but me is in the medical profession, including psychiatry. I've had an earful my whole life. Drugs can be used to effectively treat many diseases. For instance, my antiobiotics and other meds just cured my bacterial sinus infection and asthmatic bronchitis. OK, that's obvious. Meds work if properly prescribed and used. End of report. Now, sleep aids for insomnia are not a "never" use. You must just be extremely careful. I know people that have become addicted to sleep meds too. I know people that use them infrequently and responsibly and successfully. If you have addictive tendencies or a past history, do not use them, to be sure. But they do have a limited purpose. Especially if they might save your sanity in the short term or during a crisis. I have stated my views that they are an occasional short term solution, not a "cure" to hard core insomnia. There are alternative treatments and I have detailed them. Many people have reasons to be up at night. It could be anything -- family troubles, illness, pain, depression, traumatic stress syndrome, horrific memories, marital difficulties, hormones, or something as simple as worrying about your children or the mortgage or a job issue. Insomnia can be "inspired" by virtually anything. Different treatments work for different people. For some people, just "going away in their mind" will not work, although it is a viable strategy. You have to take on the individual here. Telling someone they are "weak" if they use drugs is no good. Telling someone they are "weak" if they have insomnia is no good. (I'm not saying you did that, I'm just pointing out that it is highly counterproductive, as it is proven that many insomnia sufferers have low self esteem, probably because they are too snackered to think straight.) So let's fit the specific remedy to the individual person or problem and not over-generalize here. To each his own. Just like swimming, different strokes for different folks.