Just as the nation awakes from another National Sleep Awareness Week, funded in part by sleeping pill manufacturers (a fact often not reported by journalists who dutifully report from the news release), we are reminded of rising sleeping pill usage patterns.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week:
"The increased use of sleeping pills has “been particularly sharp for young adults,” William Marder, SVP and general manager of Thomson Healthcare, told the Health Blog. A lot of the uptick, he said, is driven by the availability of newer sleep aids, such as Sanofi-Aventis’ Ambien and Sepracor’s Lunesta."
That would be the same Ambien and Lunesta that have been so heavily advertised on TV and in print, perhaps making sleep pill use appear to young people like it's a harmless trip to butterfly land.
I was told that the insect in the commercial is a Luna moth (Luna moth, Lunesta med). Was I misinformed? If it is a moth, I would think, "moth = go toward the light," - which is not exactly the association I want when seeking sleep, and nothing more permanent!