Use of sleeping pills among young people in Flanders has never been higher, especially among girls. One in five girls has used sleep medication in the past year, according to a survey of secondary school pupils by the Flemish drug and alcohol expertise centre, VAD. At the same time, alcohol and cannabis use among young people has fallen sharply.
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Alcohol and cannabis use falls among young people as sleeping pill use rises
Sally Tipper
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The use of sleep aids and sedatives among young people is increasing steadily, with more than 16% having taken medication at some point. The figure for girls is just over 20%.
These are worrying figures because sleeping pills are very addictive, says VAD director Katleen Peleman. “We suspect that anxiety and stress play a big role,” she says. “Young people face a lot of stress, just think of the exam period. They want a quick fix when they don’t feel good.”
The medication in question is available only on prescription. Peleman: “The problem seems to us to be the large packages, which is why a lot of households have heavy sleep aids in the medicine cabinet at home. They can be passed on more easily, without the intervention of a doctor. We need to be more careful about that as a society.”
Young people face a lot of stress, just think of the exam period. They want a quick fix when they don’t feel good
While sleeping pill use is rising, alcohol use has fallen sharply. Young people are drinking less and starting later, with a marked decline over the past 10 years: in 2011, 68% of pupils said they had drunk alcohol, down to 48% in 2022. About one in five pupils said they drank alcohol regularly in 2011, a number that fell to one in 10 by 2022.
According to young people, the main reason for not drinking alcohol is because they do not need it, but their own health is also an important factor. “We see this general trend in society: people are more concerned with their health, not just physically but also mentally,” Peleman says.
Binge drinking
Despite this trend, alcohol consumption among young people should not be minimised. For instance, in a class of 20 students aged 17 and 18, there will be five or six who drink alcohol on a weekly or even daily basis. Moreover, almost a quarter of young people have engaged in binge drinking.
Cannabis use among young people also fell by almost half, the survey shows. While in 2011, 17% of pupils had ever used cannabis, that figure is now 9%.
VAD has been organising a large-scale annual survey of secondary school students on the topics of alcohol, psychoactive medication, illegal drugs, gambling, gaming and social media for 25 years.