These are drugs to take with great precaution. A few days ago, the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) launched an awareness campaign for the proper use of anxiolytics and sleeping pills. France is indeed 2th Benzodiazepines’ most consumer country in Europe, with more than 9 million inhabitants who were administered in 2024. “Now there are precautions for use because they are still products with a lot of side effects and above all a lot of risk of dependence”, underlines Sandrine Leandri, regional president of the union of unions of pharmacies of pharmacies (USPO) and pharmacist in Ajaccio.
In the same vein as the ANSM campaign, in Corsican pharmacies, pharmacists sensitize patients every day to use these particular products. “The risk of dependence exists, so part of our work is effectively to make people aware of the taking of a sleeping pill. Is it well adapted? Isn’t there anything else that would be better? For sleep problems, there are still many other things to put in place to start with good hygieno-dietetic rules which are essential for this type of problem. Regarding stress, anxiety, it’s the same there are lots of small things that can be done and used to avoid taking medication “Explains Sandrine Leandri,” In the pharmacies we accompany people with anxiety or sleep disorders by questioning them to find out what type of problem they experiment, and advise them lots of little things to remedy them, like not having coffee in the afternoon or avoid screens in the evening in the case of sleep disorders ».
Pharmacists also try to highlight the importance of limiting the use of these drugs over time. « Il You have to take as little as possible, both the quantity and the duration. Like all drugs, you have to take only when necessary “, Supports the president of the USPO, alarming herself:” Today, we still see a lot of people who can no longer sleep without a sleeping pill. But these drugs cause many side effects such as memory loss. In the case of elderly people, the risk of falling during the night is also increased. We are therefore trying to raise awareness of patients not to take these too long and our advice will be to say attention, that perhaps half a cachet is enough ».
By insisting that she ” does not want to throw the stone into the doctors ”, The pharmacist finds that the prescription of these products is today ” fairly easy To respond to sleep disorders or anxiety. A problem that the ANSM presents as a real public health issue. “” I think we finally realized the problem “Note Sandrine Leandri, hammering again:” It is absolutely necessary to do prevention to explain to people attention when you start to take this type of medication there is a risk of dependence from the first cachet ”.
