Your Insomnia Pills Could Be Increasing Your Risk of Disability

Insomnia sucks—but according to new research, trying to drug your way through it might actually backfire, especially if you’re over 65.

A new study found that both insomnia and sleep medication use in older adults are linked to a significantly higher risk of developing a disability. Not only does tossing and turning all night take a toll—so does popping a pill to fix it.

This Insomnia Remedy Could Be Increasing Your Risk of Disability

“We found that as older people used more sleep medication or experienced more insomnia symptoms, they moved more rapidly toward greater disability,” said study co-author Orfeu Buxton, a biobehavioral health professor at Penn State.

Researchers tracked sleep and physical ability data from more than 6,700 seniors over five years. Participants answered questions about basic tasks like eating, bathing, dressing, and moving around—inside and outside the house. The more frequently they reported poor sleep or using sleep meds, the more likely they were to lose the ability to do those things independently.

For every step up in insomnia or medication frequency—think “once a week” to “most nights”—the risk of developing a disability jumped by about 20%.

“These results indicate that both insomnia and sleep medication use may be contributing to disability,” said lead author Tuo-Yu “Tim” Chen of Taipei Medical University. He explained that someone who goes from never using sleep meds to taking them every night over several years is “likely to develop a clinically significant disability.”

The study doesn’t claim the pills directly cause the decline—but it strongly suggests a link. One likely culprit? Falls. Many sleep aids come with side effects like dizziness, drowsiness, and impaired coordination, which can quickly become dangerous in older adults.

It’s another blow for meds that already carry risks like dependence and long-term memory issues. And while some insomnia is inevitable with age, the researchers emphasize that medication isn’t the only—or safest—option.

Instead, they recommend cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), which focuses on identifying and changing the thoughts and habits that disrupt sleep in the first place.

The takeaway: don’t ignore insomnia, but don’t just knock yourself out either. “If an older adult has prolonged sleep problems and/or sleep-medication use over time, they are very likely to become disabled,” Chen said.

Zzz’s are important—but how you get them matters more than most people think.