By the way, doctor: Are sleeping pills addictive?

Q. My primary care doctor tells me that all sleeping pills on the market are addictive. Does this mean you develop a craving for them or simply that you become unable to sleep without taking them? I'm 92 and realize that easy sleep and age aren't compatible. Please advise.

A. I'd call sleeping pills variably addictive. People don't crave them the way that, say, a heroin addict craves heroin. But many people do become psychologically dependent — they believe they can't sleep without them. And it's not just in their heads, either. If people take sleeping pills for a while and then stop, they often experience a rebound effect, becoming more wakeful and restless and agitated at bedtime than ever before.