Anxiolytics and hypnotics (AH) are prescribed often by doctors of various medical specialties in their practice. Most commonly used agents among them act on GABA-A receptors, the main inhibitory system in the CNS, and they are be used in a number of indications. There are, however, risks of acute and chronic health disorders including addiction resulting from their long-term use. Signs pointing to the possible development of AH addiction in patient include frequent visits to the physician, premature requisition of prescriptions under various pretexts or resistance to the dose reduction. Risk factors for the development of addiction include drugs with short half-life, female gender, older age, menopause, history of other substance addiction and psychiatric comorbidity in general. During the addiction patients gradually focus their thinking exclusively on the drug use and arbitrary increase their doses, they loss their control over the use ad often emerge withdrawal symptoms after cessation. The first phase of AH addiction treatment is focused on patient education, improving their insight and building their motivation. The detoxification phase is to relieve the physical signs of addiction from the patient. Subsequent treatment consists of cognitive-behavioral therapy, often involving relaxation techniques. The essential part here is also the correct treatment of the underlying disorder (if it has been identified as a trigger for addiction). Addiction prevention must be an early part of the management of the patient’s health problem wherever the identified symptoms lead to temporary use of anxiolytics or hypnotics. Each patient must be properly educated about dosage, duration of treatment and the associated risks (including the risk of addiction development). Symptomatic treatment should not exceed three weeks in general and persistent symptoms in the patient should always point the doctor towards differential diagnostics, identification and treatment of the underlying disorder.

Key words: anxiolytics – hypnotics – GABA-A receptor – addiction