Is Your Sleep App Helping or Just Stressing You Out?

• A recent study has found that the use of sleep apps may lead to negative effects in people with insomnia.
• The researchers also note that sleep apps may not give an accurate image of your sleep.
• Some researchers believe that constant sleep monitoring may lead to orthosomnia.

A rising interest in sleep health and the availability of sleep apps have led to a significant increase in people tracking their rest.

A recent study published in Frontiers in Psychology has found that sleep apps may be helpful to some people, but for those with insomnia, negative effects may be more likely.

The researchers also note that these sleep apps may not provide an accurate picture of your sleep and may actually make it more difficult for people to rest.

“In sleep medicine, there is something called orthosomnia, which is when people get anxious about sleep metrics, and in turn sleep more poorly from having that data. This study is in line with that concept,” said Alex Dimitriu, MD, a double board certified psychiatry and sleep medicine expert and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine. Dimitriu wasn’t involved in the study.

Sleep apps may vary widely, but often track similar measures for sleep, such as:

• how long it takes you to fall asleep
• how long you sleep for
• how restorative your sleep is

Sleep app technology is still so new that more research is needed to understand exactly how different groups of people respond to it and how accurate it is.

“The rapid development of sleep app technology requires the scientific community to keep up with technological advances,” first study author Håkon Lundekvam Berge of the University of Bergen said in a press release.

To investigate this, the research team analyzed data from 1,002 adults in Norway. Participants were asked about their use of sleep apps, their sleep health, and whether they experienced positive or negative effects when using the apps.

Around 46% of the survey participants stated they used, or had used, at least one sleep app. The survey showed that females and people under the age of 50 were more likely to use these apps.

The results showed that males and females generally responded similarly to the apps. However, younger individuals reported stronger effects than older users.

“We found that younger adults were more affected by the feedback from the sleep apps. They reported more perceived benefits, but also more worries and stress,” said Lundekvam in the press release.

Participants reported positive effects more often than negative. Around 15% stated that sleep apps improved their sleep, while 2.3% reported their sleep was worse.

Around 48% of participants reported they benefited from learning more about their sleep. However, 17% reported that the apps increased their worry about their sleep. One of the most important findings was that people with symptoms of insomnia were more likely to experience negative effects.

The researchers noted that people with insomnia were more likely to experience negative thoughts and worries about sleep. They also found that difficulties disengaging from concerns related to sleep may have further influence over how individuals with insomnia engage with these apps.

This shows that using sleep apps may increase stress and worry about sleep.

“This study specifically identified people with insomnia as being more susceptible to negative feedback, and this makes sense, as insomniacs are a lot more likely to have anxiety. These apps give people things to worry about when they already have a lot to worry about in the first place,” said Dimitriu.

The research team encourages further research into the relationship between insomnia and the use of sleep apps.