ABSTRACT
The use of stimulant and hypnotic medications in Neurology, Sleep Medicine, and general Medicine and Surgery settings has become ubiquitous. Published data (Table 1) for pharmacological treatment of insomnia in 2002, based on estimates of 3400 physicians representing 29 medical specialties across the U.S.A., reporting data for all patient visits in a 24-hour period once per month, projected estimates of more than 11,000,000 “drug occurrences” for “hypnotic/sedative/promote sleep” actions (1). If taking into account the additional non-prescribed use of stimulants and/or hypnotics by the general population, the magnitude of stimulant and hypnotic use is potentially staggering. The impact of the use or misuse of stimulants or hypnotics results in a myriad of medical symptoms and disorders. The constellation of these problems when “things go wrong” with stimulants or hypnotics is encompassed in stimulant-dependent sleep disorder and hypnotic-dependent sleep disorder.
