Like other young adults across the country, some St. Thomas students are resorting to using sleeping pills at night.

Use of sleep aids among 18- to 24-year-olds tripled between 1998 and 2008, according to a Thomson Reuters report. The report suggests young adults are turning to drugs before seeking long-term solutions.

“At night unless I take my pills, I won’t be able to sleep,” junior Tommy Everett said. “If I’m lying in bed by 8 p.m., I could be laying there for five hours.”

John Hoeschen, pharmacist at St. Paul Corner Drug, said, “I believe the national statistics are somewhere around 40 percent of adults take something at night to enhance sleep. It might be prescription medications, it might just be a jigger of brandy, but they’re taking something to sleep.”

But Hoeschen said sleeping pills should be used only in strenuous circumstances for a short time.

Hoeschen said he compares taking sleeping pills to trying to fix a leak with a bucket rather than repairing the roof. He said sleeping pills are only a temporary fix and come with a long list of possible side effects.

Despite the negative effects of sleeping pills, the Thomson Reuters report found a 50 percent increase in the use of prescription sleep medications from 1998 to 2006.

This increase could be attributed to better research and more knowledge about sleeping disorders, said Madonna McDermott, director of student health services.

Senior Samiah Al-Huthaili said she started taking over-the-counter sleeping pills two semesters ago.

“I’ve had sleeping issues for a very long time,” Al-Huthaili said. “I would get into bed, and I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking. I know that I’m exhausted, but I’d just lay there.”

Al-Huthaili recently increased her dosage.

“I just went up from one pill to three,” she said. “I know I’m not supposed to, but a girl’s got to sleep.”

Hoeschen, whose pharmacy is a short distance from St. Thomas, said he has only filled out a “handful” of prescriptions for sleep aid to college students.

“I can’t remember the last time I counseled a college student with sleeping pills,” Hoeschen said. “You need to find a different way to shut down and only use sleeping pills for absolutely necessary situations.”

Hoeschen experienced sleeping problems himself after a fire damaged his home in 2005. He took Benadryl for a short time, but he ultimately found relief by listening to relaxing music in bed.

Hoeschen had other simple suggestions on how to fall asleep more easily.

“If you have to get up in the middle of the night for anything, it’s best to do it in the dark,” he said. “As soon as you turn a light on, your body thinks it’s morning and shuts down melatonin production.”

Hoeschen also recommends turning off the radio and television before bed, because even if you’re asleep, your brain is still actively listening. Dealing with stress can also help, he said.

“What’s going on at work, what’s going on with your family, your financial situation; people are just grinding on this stuff all night long and can’t shut it off,” Hoeschen said. “That is why you’re not sleeping, so fix that.”

Alex Keil can be reached at amkeil@stthomas.edu.