In today’s world, with all the noise and stress, insufficient sleep and its serious side effects have become a concerning global issue.

Insufficient quality sleep is probably another epidemic which is unfortunately left un reported.

The lack of sleep may be temporary subjected to a disturbing day or troubling thoughts or it may be regular and turn into chronic insomnia.

The problem however, is the lack of quality sleep. You can have 8 ours of sleep.

But if they are not 8 quality hours of sleep, you don’t put your body in the necessary state it needs to be to get regenerated, refreshed and energized.

To get slight hold on the disturbed sleep situation worldwide and provide a short term solution, the health community introduced the sleep aids and they get prescribed as a temporary band aid.

What are Sleep Aids?

Sleep aids or more commonly known as sleeping pills, are sedative or drugs whose function is to induce sleep in the human body.

These drugs include various hypnotics that increase the drowsiness and help fall asleep.

Some people also go for more natural products such as ginseng, melatonin supplements, or Alpha Lion Superhuman Sleep, a supplement our editor used to take when they struggled with insomnia, as it offers multiple benefits along with a sound sleep.

He found it effective for him, saying it does not only it promotes REM sleep but also supports fat loss, muscle gain, helps in eliminating soreness after prolonged workouts.

The more common choices of sleeping aids that are being used to treat insomnia are, Diphenhydramine, Benzodiazepines, Silenor, Desyrel, and many more. These are over the counter sleep aids and are available widely.

Now, certainly the duration of the full effects these pills allow and induce a deep sleep, varies person to person.

It is subjected to the sensitivity of an individual towards the drugs that person intake. As well as, the type of drug that particular sleep aid comprises of and is being processed by the body.

Some drugs have stronger effects and can induce sleep for a longer period. For example, the sleep aid having Diphenhydramine may offer a sound sleep for about 4 to 6 hours. The drowsiness afterwards may last longer.

Just like this, some drugs may offer a good sleep for 6 to 8 hours. Whereas some other such as, Benzodiazepines may offer up to 12 hours.

What are The Risks of Sleep Aids:

While people long for sufficient quality sleep daily, they often ignore the side effects these temporary sleep inducing aids may leave on to the body.

Although, some pills such as the Melatonin ones, they are known to exit your system quickly and hence are not habit forming.

On the other hand, there are some stronger sleep aids which, if taken in bulk quantities can be very addictive.

There are other side effects apart from dependency, that are dangerous and can’t be ignored.

There are risks of problems with your memory, if overdosed some of these pills maybe fatal, can have interference in normal breathing, cause constipation or diarrhea, daytime drowsiness, headaches, dry throats or mouth, constant weakness, stomach aches, or may even cause allergies etc.

People have gotten so used to taking these medications that they are unable to understand how harmful they might be. You must know and understand that even the best sleep aids have some kind of side effects.

Sleep aids can help, but although they are a good short term solution, they can’t completely cure the sleeping problem.

And if you are not careful, the high dosages on a regular basis will prove more to be an addictive crutch and make your insomnia worse in the long run.

Some studies even suggest that some sleep aids may bring more risks than benefits.

3 Natural Ways to Improve The Quality of Sleep:

In life coach code we always prefer to go with the natural solution if there is room for it.

So instead of depending on some supplements, we would advise you to tweak and implement certain habits in your life to help yourself fall asleep easily.

There are 3 easy things you can do right now to help yourself fall asleep much easier at night.

1. Exercise at least 5 minutes per day.

Just a simple 5 minute exercise is enough to help you fall a sleep better. And who doesn’t have 5 minutes to exercise?

2. Make an evening routine.

Design some evening routine that puts you in a sleepy mood. This way you are programming your self to feel sleepy whenever you are doing it.

3. Make a sleep friendly room.

No matter where you sleep, you should have fresh air, comfortable bed, it should be away from electronics, the lights should be turned off and there should be no sound that can distress you.

Just doing these 3 things will help you fall asleep. But of course, if you feel like you need external help, consider supplements. However, our advice is to always consult with your doctor first before you make any change about your health.

Even though these habits might help, some sleeping problems stem from deep and subconscious worries that we are not even aware of. So working with someone on this issues is probably a great step to take.