Antidepressants, not sleep drugs, often prescribed for insomnia * Story Highlights * Doctors prescribed more antidepressants for insomnia

Insomnia, the inability to fall or stay asleep, can make the days feel fuzzy and the nights never-ending.

The disorder can increase the risk for depression and suicidal thoughts, lower work productivity and even raise blood pressure, studies have shown.

About 40 million Americans have chronic sleep disorders that prevent them from getting good rest. Singer Michael Jackson struggled with insomnia, a nutritionist who worked for him told CNN. Sources close to Jackson told CNN that during a world tour in the mid-'90s, the pop star traveled with an anesthesiologist who would "take him down" at night, then "bring him back up."

Stress or traumatic events can trigger the sleeping disorder. Insomnia drugs help the patient sleep, but they do not treat the underlying cause, which could be a result of another illness, life changes or shifting work schedules. And patients who seek relief for insomnia may not receive the most effective prescription.

Over the last two decades, doctors treating sleep disorders have prescribed more antidepressants than insomnia drugs, according to several published analyses. And there is insufficient evidence that most antidepressants are effective in treating insomnia, concluded a National Institutes of Health panel that convened on the topic in 2005.

Doctors may be factoring in cost considerations and their own familiarity with prescribing antidepressants relative to newer sleep medications, experts said.

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Link Between Insomnia And Depression In Young Adults - New Study In The Journal SLEEP

A study published in the April 1 issue of the journal SLEEP confirms the persistent nature of insomnia and the increased risk of subsequent depression among individuals with insomnia.

The study, conducted by Jules Angst, MD, of Zurich University Psychiatric Hospital in Switzerland, focused on 591 young adults, whose psychiatric, physical, and sleep symptoms were assessed with six interviews spanning 20 years. Four duration-based subtypes of insomnia were distinguished: one-month insomnia associated with significant distress, two-to-three-week insomnia, recurrent brief insomnia, and occasional brief insomnia.

According to the results, the annual prevalence of one-month insomnia increased gradually over time, with a cumulative prevalence rate of 20 percent and a greater than two-fold risk among women. In 40 percent of subjects, insomnia developed into more chronic forms over time. Insomnia either with or without comorbid depression was highly stable over time. Insomnia lasting two weeks or longer predicted major depressive episodes and major depressive disorder at subsequent interviews. Seventeen to 50 percent of subjects with insomnia lasting two weeks or longer developed a major depressive episode in a later interview. "Pure" insomnia and "pure" depression were not longitudinally related to each other, whereas insomnia comorbid with depression was longitudinally related to both.

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Insomnia and Psychiatric Illness: Presented at APA

There is a prevalence of insomnia seen in psychiatric illness although insomnia itself can be a risk factor for psychiatric disorders. That's according to research presented here on at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

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