Medications and their effects on sleep.

Only a few years ago, if patients complained of difficulty sleeping,medications that were often dangerous and addictive were prescribed to induce sleep, and the basis of the patient's complaint was not addressed. Now sleeping pills are safer, and our understanding of the sleep state has increased exponentially. Insomnia and daytime sleepiness are no longer diagnoses; they are complaints needing to be addressed-symptoms of a spectrum of sleep disorders with specific diagnostic criteria and appropriate treatments.