May sleep producing drugs be used safely?

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Avoid Drugs in Insomnia

Q. May sleep producing drugs be used safely?

A. Sleep obtained by the use of opiates, is by no means a substitute for natural sleep. The condition is one of insensibility, but not of natural refreshing recuperation. Three or four hours of natural sleep will be more than equival­ent to double that amount of sleep obtained by the use of narcotics. When a person once becomes dependent upon drugs of any kind for producing sleep, it is almost impossible for him to dispense with them. It is often dangerous to resort to their temporary use, on account of the great tendency to the formation of the habit of continuous use. The most effective means of combating sleeplessness when known causes of this condition have been removed is the neutral bath. This consists of a full bath given at a temperature of 92° to 96° F. The temperature should never be higher or lower. The neutral bath quiets the nervous system by sat­urating the cutaneous nerves with water and thus diminishing their sensibility. The absorption of water from the bath stimulates the action of the kidneys and thus carries away the irritating poisons. Practically every case may be relieved by the neutral bath if the bath is continued long enough. In insane asylums patients are frequently kept in the bath two to five hours. No injury results from this bath, no matter how long it is continued. The neutral pack may be used when the neutral bath is not available.

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