Do Sleeping Pills Mean Better Sleep?

“I am having the best sleep of my life!” claimed a Mentor Clinic patient who recently stopped sleep medications after 10+ years of use, and is using non-drug related strategies to promote restorative sleep. 

Sleep troubles affect many people in Nova Scotia and across Canada. Whether you have trouble falling asleep, you wake up during the night, or you wake up too early and can’t get back to sleep, it can take a toll on your daytime functioning, such as mood, attention, energy, or memory.

 If sleep isn’t going well, the first step is to talk with your primary care team so they can help figure out what’s going on and work with you to find a plan that fits your needs.

Before jumping to medications, it’s important to explore: 

1. Underlying health issues — medical conditions (like pain, heart or lung issues), mental health concerns (such as anxiety or depression), and environmental factors (light, noise, shift work, stress) can all interfere with sleep.  

2. Medication effects — some medicines people already take can disrupt sleep and reviewing them with your provider is often helpful.  

Non-Drug Approaches: The Heart of Effective Sleep Care 

Experts agree that non-pharmacological treatments should be central to managing insomnia, especially for long-lasting results. 

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) 

CBT-I is recommended as the first line and most effective treatment for chronic insomnia. It’s not just “sleep hygiene” (tips like darkening your room or avoiding caffeine, which can help but aren’t enough on their own); CBT-I is a structured, evidence-based program that addresses the behaviours and thoughts that keep insomnia going. 

CBT-I typically includes: 

• Sleep restriction: limiting time in bed to boost sleep efficiency. 

• Stimulus control: strengthening your bed/bedroom as a cue for sleep only. 

• Cognitive therapy: reshaping unhelpful thoughts about sleep. 

• Relaxation training: calming body and mind before bedtime.

MySleepWell.ca, a Canadian public resource, highlights that CBT-I is safer and more effective than sleeping pills and can be started even while someone is using other medications.

Research shows CBT-I benefits 70–80 % of people with chronic insomnia and produces improvements that last well after treatment ends. 

Sleeping Pills: What We Know 

Sleeping medications, including benzodiazepines and Z-drugs, have their place but important limitations and risks must be understood: 

• Medications are best as temporary assistants, not replacements for CBT-I or behavioural treatment. 

• Research supports them only for short-term use (generally less than four weeks!!). 

• There is low to moderate evidence of their effectiveness in chronic insomnia. 

• Risks include tolerance (needing more over time), dependency, and increased falls — an especially serious concern for older adults. 

In Nova Scotia, about 16 % of adults aged 65 and older take sleeping pills, which is higher than the Canadian average of 10 % in this age group. The ideal percentage is far less. These medications are a leading contributor to falls that can result in injuries like hip fractures and head injuries.  

What We’re Seeing in Practice 

At Mentor Clinic, our team has been applying a combination of supported tapering of long-term sleep medications and evidence-based non-drug strategies. In just the past month, we have had two patients who had been taking sleeping pills for 7–20 years successfully stop them — and report, “I am having the best sleep of my life.” 

This reflects what clinical guidelines and research consistently find — that addressing behaviours and thoughts that perpetuate insomnia leads to more reliable, sustainable sleep than medication alone. 

Mentor Clinic patients can book with our Occupational Therapist, Aly Pickard-Tattrie, if they are interested in learning more about sleep and options for non-drug-based strategies that support a better-quality sleep.