Sleep Medication Abuse • Eminem Hospitalized • Eminem in Rehab
Millions of fans and concert promoters:) were sorely disappointed when rap star Eminem a.k.a. Marshall Mathers III announced that his European concert tour would have to be cancelled due to exhaustion. Of course later it was announced that his exhaustion was due to a dependency on sleep medication.
How Does Sleep Medication Addiction Happen?
It's actually pretty simple and pretty common that someone can become dependent on sleep medication. And there are many reasons why.
Approximately 70 million Americans are chronically sleep deprived, and about 40% of all adults experience some type of sleep disorder--unfortunately about 70% of these poor sleepers have not discussed their problems with a medical professional.
Therefore, many people who bother to do anything about their problems with sleeping will often self-diagnose and self-medicate.
They will often drink alcohol or take over-the-counter sleep-aids to get to sleep. These nonprescription sleep medicines contain antihistamines which can induce drowsiness (much like when you take allergy or cold medicine).
Other people will go see a healthcare professional, and receive prescription medications from one of these types of sleep aids:
1. Benzodiazepines. These drugs can be short or long-acting and can often stay in the body a long-time - therefore you could possibly be drowsy during the day if you take these.
2. Non-Benzodiazepines. These drugs are thought to target specific receptors associated with sleep and have a short half-life-- meaning that they do not linger in the body the next day. These are the newest type of sleep medication.
3. Barbiturates. These are really no longer prescribed anymore due to the risk of addiction. These were commonly used years ago - and abused often by celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, among others.
4. Antidepressants. Many people who use antidepressants for depression or anxiety related disorders will sometimes complain of the side-effect of "drowsiness". That is why some physicians will prescribe antidepressants to promote sleep.
Why Does This Happen To Celebrities So Much?
Based on statistics, sleep medication addiction doesn't really happen to just celebrities. We simply learn more about celebrities addictions due to their notoriety. Many people suffer from lack of sleep and therefore sleep medication addiction.
People who are in pain suffer from lack of sleep. People suffering from depression or anxiety disorders, as as well as other mental disorders, often suffer from sleep deprivation. People who are under huge amounts of stress suffer from insomnia.
Where Eminem falls under all the different options for the use and abuse of sleep medications is of course a personal and private matter known only to him -- but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this celebrity is under huge amounts of pressure, stress, obligation, etc. and probably had a grueling schedule that didn't really allow for a lot of sleep.
For example, if your life includes a rigorous schedule that only allows for 5 to 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep (or less!), you have to make sure that you fall asleep immediately in order to get the benefit of those few hours. If it takes you over an hour to settle down, get into bed, etc. to finally fall asleep - then you may in big trouble when it's time to wake up the next day.
Solutions for this Dependency?
Eminem is doing the right thing. He is putting a halt to his schedule and addressing his problems head-on. That is key to ending a sleep medication addiction - recognition and action.
1. Recognize that there is a problem if you cannot fall asleep without a sleep aid, or that you need to take an increasing amount of the medication in order to fall asleep.
2. Seek professional - medical help for your sleep disorder and for your addiction.
3, Work on eliminating or decreasing the severity of the major sources of stress in your life.
4. Don't isolate yourself. Talk to others close to you and keep them in the loop in order to create a system of accountability.
Lisa Angelettie, M.S.W., is a psychotherapist, author, and an online advice expert. She has been helping people make smarter life choices since 1998. Visit her for Advice & Counseling, or take a free Depression Screening today. Subscribe to the growing self-help ezine "Better Choices".
