The benzodiazepines are preferable to the barbiturates as hypnotics because the risk of physical addiction or serious poisoning is much less.The efficacy of the benzodiazepines in the treatment of chronic insomnia has been demonstrated for longer than 2 years.

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The benzodiazepines are preferable to the barbiturates as hypnotics because the risk of physical addiction or serious poisoning is much less.However,the efficacy of the benzodiazepines in the treatment of chronic insomnia has not been demonstrated past 1 month.Benzodiazepines are much safer than barbiturates because the therapeutic index is much wider.In most instances,excessively large doses must be ingested to produce respiratory or central vasomotor depression.The efficacy of the benzodiazepines has not been demonstrated past 1 month.Nonaddicting agents,such as trazodone (Desyrel),a serotonin modulator,may be useful in the treatment of insomnia,and no tolerance or dependence is produced even with chronic use.

The Benzodiazepines Are Preferable to the Barbiturates as Hypnotics Because