On the other hand, excessive sleep being used as a strategy to avoid anxiety or challenging situations would be expected to worsen mental health over time, increase isolation, and probably affect social recovery. So - while identified as a positive in the studies this is not straightforward(!)
The majority of studies reflected qualitative or content-analysis approaches (n=8), which limits interpretation and generalisability in many ways. Many studies also were likely to be non-representative in population recruited (e.g. analysing websites or patient forums for medication comments).
There are also many domains not explored to date - for example, the effect of sedation on depression or mood, paranoia, hallucinations, or on important features like employment, relationship status or social functioning. I'm hoping to do more work in this area, so reach out if you are interested!
With respect to wellbeing, a negative impact was also supported (lowered self-esteem, self-efficacy, quality of life, and increased anhedonia). Some positive effects of sedation were noted on improving sleep and therefore symptoms like hallucinations, and on allowing escape more generally...
In all studies reporting on multiple medication side effects (n=7), sedation was identified in all of them as either the most common (n=5) or in the top three (n=2). Also noteworthy was the lack of definition of sedation, and inconsistent measurement - nearly every study had a different approach...