Dependency of non-benzodiazepine hypnotics. Two case reports

With the introduction of the non-benzodiazepine hypnotics zopiclone and zol pidem it was expected to have hypnotics without side effects and risks char acteristically seen with benzodiazepines. We report two cases with high-dos e usage and dependency of non-benzodiazepine hypnotics. Both patients were prescribed the drugs to treat sleep disturbances occuring during a depressi ve episode. While one patient had a polysubstance abuse then was no evidenc e for an abuse history in the other patient. To reduce withdrawal symptoms long-acting benzodiazepines were given to both patients. Thus, it seems tha t not only patients with a history of substance abuse but also patients wit h a psychiatric disorder are at risk for abuse of non-benzodiazepine hypnot ics. Considering the increasing number of case reports with abuse and depen dence of zopiclone and zolpidem it seems necessary to reevaluate the depend ency risk of the currently available non-benzodiazepine hypnotics.