sleeping
How can apps help improve sleep?
Sleep is an important factor in mental health. A good night’s rest can lead to a healthier, happier mindset, and an overall improvement in well-being [25]. Many apps strive to create solutions for a more peaceful night. Mindfulness has become a common technique utilized by apps to decrease sleep disturbances while also improving mental health. Whether that be a wind-down exercise before you go to sleep or a lengthy bedtime story, sleep has become a priority for numerous mental health apps. These apps also have the potential to be an accessible and user-friendly solution for individuals with sleep problems.
"Sleep better. Feel better."
-BetterSleep
BetterSleep
BetterSleep is an app designed solely for sleep. They create personalized sleep experiences that result in restful nights and wakeful days. Benefits include a positive impact on stress and anxiety, improvements in sleep quality, and an improved feeling of awakeness the next morning [26]. They provide three main types of sleep aid: mixes, meditations, and bedtime stories. Mixes include different sounds, beats, and music that can be blended together for the user’s preference. Meditation exercises are there to help clear the mind and relieve stress. Bedtime and narrated fictional stories to guide you into a gentle, restful sleep. BetterSleep is a subscription-based app with pricing at $9.99 monthly, $59.99 yearly, or a lifetime payment of $249.99.
One year after the Covid-19 pandemic hit, BetterSleep conducted a study on how sleep has been affected titled “COVID-19: One Year On” [23]. They explain the connections between sleep disturbances, heightened anxiety, and mood fluctuations in relation to the pandemic. Overall, results show that the pandemic has negatively affected sleep, mainly with difficulties in falling asleep and staying asleep. BetterSleep uses these studies to promote the effectiveness of their app and share potential solutions for those having difficulties with sleep.
Headspace & Calm
Headspace and Calm also provide sleep exercises with similar sleep methods. Both have a section dedicated to sleep that promotes mindfulness techniques and experiential awareness [24]. Studies show that doing one of their sleep exercises before bed shows positive benefits for falling asleep, staying asleep, and falling back asleep in the middle of the night [27]. Headspace’s sleep section has many programs including Sleepcasts, Wind downs, Sleep music, Nighttime SOS, and Soundscapes. Calm’s programs include Sleep Stories, Sleep Meditations, Calm Music, and Soundscapes. Both of the story-based programs (Sleepcasts and Sleep Stories) focus on a sensory experience through narration. One study showed that using Calm was associated with self-reported improvements in sleep and mental health [24].
Could these apps work for me?
Like other areas of mental health research, sleep-related apps still need more support and there is not an overwhelming amount of evidence for their effectiveness. However, like many mental health apps, users may experience personal benefits. They claim to feel better when using a sleep app and have an overall improvement in their wellbeing [24]. While this feeling may not be a universal experience, it is still beneficial for many in their perception of improved sleep patterns and mental health.