A recent study claims sleeping pills are as risky as cigarettes. NBC4 decided to look deeper into the issue and find out whether it's worse to take a pill or not sleep. The average adult should get at least seven hours of sleep a night. That's a lot tougher than it sounds, though.
Dr. Michael Saribalas is a certified sleep specialist here in Columbus. He treats people for all kinds of sleep and psychiatric disorders.
He said all sleeping pills, or hypnotics, come with a risk but this study should be taken with a grain of salt.
He said the study was all about association, meaning the people taking sleeping pill might have had other underlying problems that led to death, not the pills themselves.
Saribalas points out that a lot of important things happen during sleep so the benefit of taking a sleeping pill, for some, may outweigh the risk.
Jennifer Mayle, a local hair stylist, is one of Saribalas' patients.
She said she once suffered through 12 days of insomnia.
She has been taking a sleep aid for many years and said she'd rather do that than walk around like a zombie. She said her life has improved drastically since finding help.
