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*Names changed to protect the privacy of the individuals
If you were to describe college in three words, many would go with the following: studying, partying, and no sleep. Whether it is the stress of school, anxiety or depression, or one bad night of not being able to fall asleep and downing some Nyquil, students becoming reliant on sleep medications are on the rise.
According to a recent report by the health care business of Thomas Reuters, “…hundreds of college-age students across the country are turning to sleep meds to get some shuteye.” Whether it be prescription pills such as Ambien or Xanax, over the counter products such as Zzzquil or Benadryl (which contains diphenhydramine, the key ingredient in OTC sleep medication) or illegal substances like marijuana, college aged students are taking it upon themselves to self-treat their insomnia. Yet, little do many students know, sleep medications are not only supposed to be used for temporary relief, but are also extremely psychologically addictive.
A junior at the University at Albany, Cassie*, is one of many students who has dealt with the reliance of self-medicating to fall asleep. Suffering from depression and anxiety upon arriving to college, she was put on Trazadone. “[I initially] started out with Trazadone, a prescription sleep aid meant to help with my depression, but it knocks you out.” Cassie went on to say how it would sedate her for upwards of 10 hours, which isn’t ideal when you’re in college, and had to talk to her doctor about other options. “We were about to switch to a new medication, but he didn’t want to do it around the holidays. [After] the holidays I couldn’t afford to go to him anymore so I just finished off what I had left of past prescriptions, and then stopped taking it all together.”
Little do many know, withdrawal symptoms of long term sleep aids use can be extremely severe. In Cassie’s case, it was the recurrent insomnia that was worse than before she ever started taking any medications. “There was a few month period when I live in the dorms and was out of Trazadone [so] I just didn’t use anything and I almost never slept.” Cassie would stay awake all night, go to her job at 6am, and then come home and crash from the excessive lack of sleep. This caused her to miss classes and assignments which resulted in terminal academic probation.
It wasn’t until Cassie moved off campus into an apartment where she turned to marijuana to help fall asleep. “I still go to bed on the later side (around midnight) but when I smoke and lay down it takes me 10 minutes to fall asleep on average. I used to be very anti-marijuana, but I’ve never slept better, and my anxiety levels have plummeted.”
Alexis*, another junior from the University at Albany has also been suffering from severe insomnia since starting college. “I never had a problem falling asleep in my entire life until college started and the stress elevated.” Alexis chose to approach the University at Albany Counseling Center, where they then referred her to the University at Albany Health Center for help with her situation. “I made an appointment with one of the doctors, she spoke with me for less than 5 minutes, and I was handed a prescription for Ambien and Xanax. I was told it would help me sleep, and that is it extremely important to get enough sleep, especially when it comes to being at school.” When asked about how easy it was to get the prescription for medications that are considered class B drugs, the second most dangerous group of controlled medications, Alexis laughed. “The doctor didn’t even blink an eye. She suggested it, and continued to provide me with the prescriptions.”
Alexis took it upon herself to try and kick her addiction. “When I told my doctor I wanted to wean myself off the medication, and was suffering from extreme withdrawal symptoms, like not sleeping for over 72 hours, she suggested taking OTC sleep aids to supplement… that only made it worse.” Alexis went on to describe that within 20-30 minutes of taking an OTC sleeping pill, like Zzzquil, she would begin to feel drowsy and light headed. Her heart would begin to pound uncontrollably and she’d feel short of breath. “Sometimes, I really felt like I was dying and had no control over how to stop it.” Eventually it would knock her out, but waking up 4-5 hours later, she would feel uneasy and not very rested. It also caused her vision to be blurry to the point where she couldn’t read without having to close her eyes “to adjust and rid the fuzziness for a few seconds.” Regardless, she continued to take them. “Every morning when I woke up I would tell myself that the night before was the last time I would use them, but as the night became closer, the anxiety of knowing I would not sleep would elevate, and I would wind up taking them anyways.”
Referring back to Thomas Reuter’s health care business, a company of Reuters news, “study[s] found that use of prescription sleep aids has nearly tripled among 18-to-24-year-olds over the last 10 years.” Contacting the University at Albany Health Center, where many students go to receive treatment for insomnia, I anticipated speaking to a doctor to find out more statistics on how many UAlbany students are being prescribed these medications and for what reasons. I was contacted back by one of the doctors with no comment on the subject.
If you are suffering from insomnia or addiction to sleeping pills, know that there is help. The University at Albany Counseling Center is opened Monday thru Friday from 9:30am-4:30pm located at 400 Patroon Creek Blvd, and shuttle service is available at Social Sciences and Collins circle every half an hour. You can also contact the Recovery.org hotline for sleeping medication addictions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-888-578-5641.
http://abcnews.go.com/OnCampus/story?id=6905760
http://www.recovery.org/topics/find-a-reputable-sleeping-pill-recovery-hotline/
http://www.albany.edu/counseling_center/index.shtml
(Picture courtesy of http://www.itamar-medical.com/WatchPAT/Patient/WatchPAT/Complete_Overview.html)