be taught in our schools .

because none is linked to their 'lil imaginary friend(s)

is also a legitimate risk factor.

Inability to sleep may be associated with a range of other undiagnosed disorders, such as pain and inflammation, occult infection, etc. Also psychoactive disorders such as depression, etc.

Also sleep apnea, which is a high mortality risk factor in and of itself.

This study does suggest that when a person walks into a doctor's office and announces that he or she has developed a sleep disorder, the first line of attack ought to be a medical evaluation unless there is a clear cause (loss of loved one, sudden stressor, known medical condition being treated). Giving sleeping pills to someone with sleep apnea is not the safest thing to do, for example.

If you ran a similar study on patients who had developed significant trouble sleeping but WERE NOT prescribed sleeping pills, I am guessing you would see similar bumps in the mortality/morbidity rates.

The study period was two and a half years, which implies that sleeping pills did not directly cause any cancers, etc.

I think sleeping pills are overused, but I would caution against drawing any quick conclusions from a study such as this. It's suggested in the article that the dosage provides a hint of a causative link. I doubt it - the dosage probably varies with the intensity of the underlying cause, which would provide the correlation.

NOT sleeping cuts off years from your life. Not sure what the solution is for insomniacs. (With all due respect to the posters above -- TM is about as effective for chronic insomnia as is a cup of warm milk.)

You people are so "glass half empty".