If you have trouble sleeping when it is time to go to bed, you are not alone. More than likely everybody on the planet at one time or another has had a difficult time falling to sleep or staying asleep when they get there. It is because of this sleeping difficulty that many people are seeking a natural sleep aid to help them get the rest that they have not been getting. However, are people putting themselves at risk of addiction when they use sleep aids to get a good night’s rest? You might be surprised at the answer.

Natural Ingredients

As unfortunate as it is when people see the word “natural” on a box of something they generally tend to believe that since it is “natural,” it is safe. That could not be further away from the truth. Snake venom is natural, how safe do you think it is? Another naturally derived poison that is popular in communities today is heroin. Although it is not likely you will find heroin on the shelves at any store, you might find some things that are almost as bad.

Types of Addictions

There are two basic types of addictions when it comes to substances like sleep aids. There is actual physical addiction when your body becomes dependant on a drug such as alcohol, or heroin. Then, there is mental, or emotional addiction. This is the kind of addiction when a person becomes mentally addicted to a substance but it does not turn into a physical addiction. Both of these types of addictions can be very powerful and devastating.

Over the Counter Sleep Aids

Many times when you go to a drugstore to look for things that will help you to sleep you will find an entire area of shelving that is dedicated to several different types of sleep aids. A couple of the most popular ones are melatonin and diphenhydramine. Diphenhydramine doubles as an antihistamine that helps with allergies and is also called Benedryl. Remedies such as these are not associated with physical addiction, however, a person that uses these aids to fall to sleep at night may be convinced that they will not fall to sleep unless they take a pill. That kind of thinking, in itself, is a form of addiction.

Prescribed Sleep Aids

There are literally millions of different types of sleeping aids that a doctor could prescribe to you. Many of them are considered non-habit-forming, yet some of them are blatantly known for getting people hooked. 

Natural Sleeping Aids

Some of the more known sleep aids that are made from natural ingredients are chamomile that comes from the chamomile plant, and variants of CBD. Although there is not a lot of data that supports the theory that CBD can help with sleep problems, that is anecdotal evidence that suggests that people that use CBD to get to sleep faster are more likely to succeed at a good night’s sleep. CBD seems to have a calming effect on the people that use it which might be beneficial to getting better sleep.

Conclusion

Whether or not the natural sleeping aid that you use is addictive will depend on you and the way that your body responds to sleep aids. Although some mental addictions can be completely harmless to the body, the way that the mind depends on the use of the product is a little concerning. If you convince yourself that you need to use chamomile every night in order to fall asleep you might be causing more harm than good. Even if chamomile does not affect you in a negative way, the way that you think about it could cause problems. In any event, always be mindful when you use sleep aids, whether they are natural or not.