England’s sleeping pill hotpots are today named on an interactive map that allows you to see the extent of the crisis in your area.
Despite calls for a crackdown on the dispensing of powerful hypnotics, NHS data shows the number of prescriptions for drugs such as Ambien and zopiclone has hardly changed over the past five years.
NHS data, obtained through a freedom of information request by MailOnline, shows The Wirral has the highest rates of sleeping pill use in the country.
About 3.4 percent of patients in the area were prescribed sleeping pills in 2023, data suggests.
This corresponds to about one in every 30 people.
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Other sleeping pill hotspots included North East Essex (3.1 per cent of patients) as well as St Helens (2.8 per cent of patients).
High prescriptions were also recorded in coastal counties such as Devon and Cornwall as well as Brighton.
In total, NHS data shows that GPs wrote 8 million prescriptions for sleeping pills last year at a cost of £89 million to the health service.
Experts claim our ‘always-on’ lives contribute to sleep problems with people finding it impossible to switch off email and social media.
In addition to technology being blamed for disrupting people’s sleep patterns, factors such as stress and anxiety are also often cited as the causes of poor sleep.
North East London had the lowest prescribing of sleeping pills in the country, with just one in 100 patients prescribing the tablets.
Zopiclone was the most common sleeping pill issued by GPs last year, accounting for more than half of all prescriptions.
Patients in their 50s were most likely to be prescribed sleeping pills, followed by patients in their 70s.
There has been increasing concern about the use of sleeping pills by Britons. Proponents say they can be a lifeline for those struggling with the pain of insomnia.
But they can be addictive, and users can become increasingly dependent on them to fall asleep.
Breaking free of their mind-altering effects can be incredibly difficult, with patients who have tried to come off them describing how they ‘wanted to die’.
NHS bosses have previously called for a crackdown on prescribing the drugs because of these concerns, but the number of pills being dispensed has barely budged.
Side effects have also been reported, with one in 100 patients taking some hypnotics experiencing strange ‘sleep-related behaviour’.
These can include sleepwalking or even having sex without being fully aware of it.
Last year, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ex-lover Petronella Wyatt said she was addicted to sleeping pills and had checked into an exclusive £56,000-a-night clinic. week in Switzerland in an attempt to break his habit.
Despite calls for a crackdown, NHS data shows the number of prescriptions for powerful hypnotics has barely changed over the past five years
She said: ‘Insomnia has been my relentless companion since I was in my late 20s. I sweat and panic when I think of the enemy stalking my bedroom.
‘For years it has not been a place of rest, but of desperate fighting. It’s hard for the non-sufferer to understand how insomnia can devour your soul.’
Nuno Albuquerque, head of treatment at the UK Addiction Treatment Group, said: ‘A person’s sleep is essential to overall health, but for many, daily stress can interrupt or prevent sleep altogether, and the desire to treat this with a pill is all too easy.
‘Unfortunately, a GP only has a short time to treat a patient and sometimes they will not suggest other holistic therapies such as exercise, mindfulness and a routine, instead they will write a prescription for sleeping pills.
“The danger here is that the patient may then begin to believe that the only way they can sleep is with the tablets. And there begins the vicious cycle of addiction, and like any other drug, sleeping pills can be addictive.’
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In 2019, health chiefs urged doctors to stop dispensing benzodiazepines so freely as part of a prescribing review due to growing addiction concerns.
Benzos, including Valium, were the main remedy for insomnia for decades.
Over time, however, they have slowly fallen out of favor due to fears of addiction, severe withdrawal symptoms and other problems.
Z-drugs such as Ambien and zopiclone (branded as Zimovane in the UK) were touted as a user-friendly alternative to older and notoriously addictive tranquilizers.
The now-defunct Public Health England also raised the alarm about side effects and withdrawal symptoms of Z drugs four years ago. However, it said demand for the drug had already peaked and was declining.
However, mental health experts warn that the equally effective drugs can be just as risky as older tablets and trigger intense withdrawal symptoms that make it difficult for patients to stop taking them.