I decided to try to just use sleeping pills (Zopiclone, 11 mg) to get to sleep. No alcohol. I didnt fall asleep. I essentially have talked myself out of the pills working (I take a double dose. The recommended dose is 7.5 mg but my doctor, reluctantly, agree to give me a double dose). I see him on Jan 5th and I think Im going to tell him that it doesnt work for me anymore - it worked for me for a few months - and I will have to drink alcohol, or there is the option to use pot (but Im not pot, but it does the trick of getting me to sleep)
Attend to your your poor sleep hygiene. It could be the root of your existential depression.
And start thinking about how you can do it without alcohol.
Alcohol screws up your sleep cycle. If you drink nightly, you are not getting proper sleep. SLEEP IS IMPORTANT TO YOUR MENTAL HYGIENE, and natural sleep is necessary.
I spent most of my thirties dealing with chronic insomnia. It's a nightmare. You don't live, you just exist, and barely so. It's good that you question the efficacy of the pills you take to sleep. Prescription sleep aids are just that--aids. No prescription sleeping pill is going to guarantee you sleep, and those that will are going to be out of your reach (remember how Michael Jackson died). The best way to reclaim and maintain healthy sleep patterns is to abide by your natural circadian rhythm...it's actually a powerful drug in itself, if you allow it to work properly.
I've been where you are, in that desperate miasma of sleep-aid hell, and if someone had told me back then to ditch the alcohol and benzos and instead opt for meditation and maybe a cup of sweet decaf tea before bed, I would have scoffed and punched them in the neck.
But it works. I take klonopin. Not for sleep, but for issues with anxiety and anger. I've weaned myself down to half of my prescribed dose. I'm sure it plays a role in the fact that I sleep well, but guess what? When I can't sleep, I don't ever double dose or reach for a fast-acting xanax. I have a cup of hot black tea with lots of sugar and then meditate for ten/fifteen minutes. Then I'm out like a light.
I'm not suggesting you change your habits overnight. You can't. You're probably rolling your eyes right now: all those lovely little sleeping pills....how can a cup of tea compare? Well, it can't for you right now. But you can start to wean yourself off the alcohol and pills so that you get to a point where it can.
Consider this. That's the first step.
Even marijuana is better than alcohol and pills. It could be a good way to help you deal with your cessation of the more powerful addictive substances. You don't sound to me like someone who would easily abuse weed, so there's that.
Jerking off in bed also can help you sleep. If I have a cup of sweet tea and a good wank, I could fall asleep in a falling elevator.