This document discusses various sedative-hypnotic drugs including benzodiazepines, barbiturates, non-benzodiazepine hypnotics, melatonin agonists, and atypical anxiolytics. It provides details on their mechanisms of action, effects on sleep, pharmacokinetics, therapeutic uses, adverse effects, and guidelines for treatment of insomnia. Hypnotics that act at GABAA receptors like benzodiazepines are preferred over barbiturates due to greater safety. Drugs with shorter half-lives are favored for sleep-onset insomnia while those with longer half-lives can be used for daytime anxiety. Non-pharmacological therapies are