I don't think it is a good idea, but it certainly works - to describe someone or something as a bromide essentially means they are boring, and puts people to sleep.

a. A commonplace remark or notion; a platitude. See Synonyms at cliché.
b. A tiresome person; a bore.

I do not know much about how it works, but it would be interesting to read a bit more about it, I guess.

NaBr is added instead of NaCl as table salt in some country , it is sedative and known to decrease sexual desire in men too.

I read something like that.but I can't find anything about its pharmacology or 1st hand experience.

It is myth that they gave it to soldier to prevent but-pyrating since it decreases combat rediness significantly,
but I found info somewhere that it was common ingedient in food and dring in soviet gulags,especially after attempted escapes,rebellion etc.
Nazis might use it too,but there is no existance of written document and Germans were/are very
gingerly in taking notes of even most screwed up experiments.

""I don't think that bromide had any lasting effect, the only way to stop a British soldier feeling randy is to load bromide into a 300lb shell and fire it at him from the waist down.""

haha it is so funny  

It apparently displaces chlorine in neurons:

h**p://web.archive.org/web/20080415185010/http://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/index.pl/potassium_bromide

 

Interesting..although it figures. It must be small enough still to be discharged from ion channels located on GABAergic neurons, yet less easily so than is Cl-.

Interesting also according to that source is that is seems? to enter as an ionic species, and remain undissociated...that is odd...I wonder if it has some concurrent inhibitory action mediated via potassium channels that contributes to antiseizure effect..would be curious to see comparative studies using NaBr vs KBr.

well the benzodiazepiene receptor is one of those voltage gated chloride ion recptors so it probably displaces it but i don't know my ass from a hole in the ground.