[Pharmacological treatment of insomnia]

Sleep disturbances of insomnia type belong to the most common health problems of the modern society. Chronic insomnia, one that worsens daytime functioning and lasts over one month, occurs in 9 to 15% of the general population of developed countries. Further 15-20% of the population suffers from short term insomnia. When approaching a patient with insomnia, the physician should firstly regard sleep disturbances as a symptom related to other medical conditions. The most common causes of chronic insomnia include psychiatric disorders, addictions, somatic disorders and poor sleep habits. For successful treatment of insomnia it is most important to diagnose the cause of sleep problems properly. Such management of sleep disturbances allows treating insomnia causally. The symptomatic treatment of insomnia includes sleep hygiene and intermittent administration of sleep promoting drugs such as benzodiazepines, non-benzodiazepine hypnotics of second generation, antidepressants, antipsychotics, antihistaminics or herbal and over the counter agents. This article reviews the sleep promoting drugs and substances that can be used for treatment of chronic insomnia.