Insomnia
While insomnia is a common symptom of depression, antidepressants are effective for treating sleep problems whether or not they are associated with depression. While all antidepressants help regulate sleep, some antidepressants such as amitriptyline, doxepin, mirtazapine, and trazodone can have an immediate sedative effect, and are prescribed to treat insomnia. Amitriptyline and doxepin both have antihistaminergic, anticholinergic, and antiadrenergic properties, which contribute to both their therapeutic effects and side effect profiles, while mirtazapine's side effects are primarily antihistaminergic, and trazodone's side-effects are primarily antiadrenergic. Mirtazapine is known to decrease sleep latency (i.e., the time it takes to fall asleep), promoting sleep efficiency and increasing the total amount of sleeping time in people with both depression and insomnia.
Estazolam
Estazolam is prescribed for the short-term treatment of certain sleep disorders. It is an effective hypnotic drug showing efficacy in increasing the time spent asleep as well as reducing awakenings during the night. Combination with non-pharmacological options for sleep management results in long-term improvements in sleep quality after discontinuation of short-term estazolam therapy. Estazolam is also sometimes used as a preoperative sleep aid. It was found to be superior to triazolam in side effect profile in preoperative patients in a trial. Estazolam also has anxiolytic properties and due to its long half life can be an effective short-term treatment for insomnia associated with anxiety.