Anxiety is a normal human emotion that everyone experiences at times. Many people feel anxious, or nervous, when faced with a problem at work, or before taking a test or making an important decision. Anxiety disorders, however, are different. They can cause such distress that it interferes with a person's ability to lead a normal life.
An anxiety disorder is a serious mental illness. For people with anxiety disorders, worry and fear are constant and overwhelming, and can be crippling.
Medicines used to reduce the symptoms of anxiety disorders include anti-depressants and anxiety-reducing medications.
Sleeping pills have limited uses. They may help, for example, during an overnight airplane ride, and when taken in a crisis, they might prevent an acute problem from turning into chronic insomnia.
But doctors and patients have come to learn that long-term use has more risks than benefits. Today, most insomnia patients are not given sleeping pills, and most insomnia patients who do take drugs use them briefly.