Skullcap Herb For Sleep

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A friend and I were recently discussing his sleep hygiene when he revealed that once in a while he slips a few drops of Skullcap into his herbal tea before bedtime. Being a writer who sometimes works up until midnight on his laptop he uses the Skullcap herb remedy to help induce a better sleep.  

For those that don’t know, American Skullcap is a herbal medicine extracted from a plant that typically grows in meadows and woodland. The plant was named Skullcap due to the caplike appearance on the outer side of its small purple flowers.  

American Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora)is well known for its ability to induce sleep and prevent anxiety, nervousness, twitches and convulsions. Available to buy as a powder or liquid extract, Skullcap is an effective relaxant which has been used for over 200 years.  

Those of you who have read the ‘Six Steps to Sleep Now’ book will know that I am not a fan of any sleep inducing drugs, herbal or otherwise – in fact, the majority of herbal remedies only offer a temporary fix or induce a placebo effect that soon wears thin. Out of curiosity, my friend asked me what my opinion was on taking Skullcap for sleep and whether I thought it was suitable as part of a good sleep hygiene routine.   

My answer was as follows: 

Skullcap is a proven effective alternative to sleeping pills which has its roots in reliable native-American history, but regardless of this I do not advocate the repetitive consumption of any sleep enhancer other than natural foods which coincidently help with sleep. However, Skullcap can be used on occasions where you have gone past your bedtime sleepy stage and ‘over-clocked’ past the state of tiredness, or when you are on a long haul flight or adjusting to time differences.   

Whatever you do, don’t start using Skullcap for sleep more than once a week; otherwise you are in danger of creating a psychological dependency. I am not saying Skullcap is bad for you, what I am saying is that you will get so used to taking it that you will end up thinking you can’t sleep in its absence. This mindset will interfere with the mindset we seek to create with the six steps sleep hygiene program.  

Those who experience bad sleep will often create small conditional sleep obsessions, such as only being able to sleep in their own bed, only being able to sleep alone, only being able to sleep in one position, etc. The last thing a bad sleeper needs is to develop conditional sleep through the use of sleep aids, natural or not. 

If you do purchase some American Skullcap herb be sure not to get it confused with Chinese Skullcap which is used to treat other conditions such as headaches, allergies, infections and inflammation.

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