Meditation, Sleep Stories, And Beyond: How Sleep Apps Can Foster Mental Wellness
Sleep is a crucial component of our mental health, physical well-being, and ability to function. When we sleep well, we’re often better able to navigate challenges, manage our emotions, and solve problems. Due to the outsize effect sleep can have on our lives, tools that help us get restful sleep can be highly valuable. Sleep apps can be convenient, useful resources that provide insights into sleep patterns, help with relaxation, and guide users toward better sleep habits. Below, we’re providing an overview of sleep apps, discussing their key features and benefits, and sharing options for sleep apps that you might want to explore.
The importance of sleep
Sleep helps facilitate the function of several body systems, aiding in tissue repair, memory consolidation, and immune system function. It’s vital to our cognitive functioning, helping us recall important information, make decisions, and focus. Sleep also helps with self-regulation, stress management, and other important contributors to emotional wellness.
A lack of sleep can lead to various health challenges. Sleep disturbances are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and some forms of cancer. Sleep is also closely connected to mental health. Disruptions in sleep can cause or exacerbate symptoms of depression, anxiety, substance use disorder, and psychosis.
A person’s sleep needs can depend on a variety of factors, including age, activity levels, and medical conditions. However, experts generally recommend that adults get seven to nine hours of sleep per night and teens get eight to 10 hours of sleep each night. Individuals who do not meet these guidelines may experience sleep deprivation and related effects.
What are sleep apps?
Sleep apps are downloadable programs that provide users with various forms of sleep support. These tools can track sleep patterns, promote relaxation, and help users develop healthy sleep habits. Sleep apps are available for a range of devices, including smartphones, computers, tablets, and smart watches.
Health-related apps are becoming increasingly popular tools for users who want to gain insights into their well-being and promote healthy habits. Sleep apps are a substantial contributor to this surge of interest in health apps, as experts continue to emphasize the vital role sleep plays in overall wellness. Research suggests that the use of sleep apps has increased significantly, likely because they are easy to use, affordable, and—because of the proliferation of smartphones—widely available.
Types of sleep apps
The sleep apps you decide to use may depend on your goals, lifestyle, average sleep duration, and available devices. You can find many sleep apps that are geared toward relaxation, featuring guided meditations, breathwork, stories, and other activities. Other apps focus on sleep tracking, helping users better evaluate the quality of their rest. There are also apps designed to address specific sleep-related concerns, such as sleep apnea, sleep talking, or circadian rhythm sleep disorders.
White noise, sleep stories, and other ways sleep apps can promote calm, restful sleep
Research suggests that sleep apps may lead to improved sleep quality. In a scoping review that included over fifty articles, researchers indicate the potential benefits of sleep apps: “Easy-to-use, low-cost, simple device, mobility and flexibility features make the sleep apps an excellent choice to support sleep.” These apps promote relaxation and proper sleep habits in a variety of ways.
Many sleep apps play white noise, ocean waves, or other pleasing ambient sounds, which may help eliminate any distracting outside noises. Research suggests that apps that feature white noise and sleep sounds can be especially helpful for those who live in busy neighborhoods or otherwise loud areas. In one study, researchers found that individuals in high-noise environments may experience improved sleep when listening to white noise.
Nature sounds, which are commonly included in sleep apps, also have the potential to produce sleep benefits. For example, research suggests that forest sounds may lead to reduced heart rate, improved mood, and feelings of relaxation.
Sleep stories are another common feature of sleep apps, helping provide an engaging distraction in a relaxing format. Typically, these stories involve easy-to-follow and pleasant narratives that can promote sleepiness. There is evidence to suggest that apps that utilize sleep stories may help improve sleep in users.
Studies also indicate that meditation may help improve sleep quality in participants. Guided meditations—which involve gentle instruction from experts—are widely utilized, potentially effective interventions for people seeking to relax before bed. A common form of guided meditation included in sleep apps is mindfulness, which helps participants foster a sense of presence through increased awareness of their feelings, thoughts, and surroundings.
The potential benefits of using a sleep tracker
Sleep trackers are some of the most common types of sleep apps, providing insights into a user’s patterns and suggestions for optimizing their sleep routine.
It’s difficult for a person to track their sleep accurately. We don’t always know exactly when we fall asleep, how frequently we wake up during the night, or how deep we sleep. A sleep tracker can synthesize various forms of sleep data, telling us when we fall asleep, how often we move during the night, and when we completed each sleep cycle. Many of these apps can also calculate an individual’s heart and breathing rate, body temperature, and even blood pressure.
Using a wearable sleep tracker
Watches, rings, and other forms of wearable tech can be convenient tools for tracking sleep. Many smartwatches come with features that make not only sleep tracking but many other processes easier. However, for some, wearable trackers may be uncomfortable or inconvenient, and they can also be expensive.
Tracking sleep through your phone
There are also several sleep trackers that can be downloaded onto smartphones. Such apps typically use various smartphone features to measure sleep duration, quality, etc. These trackers can be less obtrusive than those that operate through watches or rings. However, they are often less powerful, accurate, and customizable than wearable sleep trackers.
Guided meditation, sleep sounds, and more: choosing the right sleep apps for you
The best sleep apps for you will depend on the features you want as well as your objectives and budget. You might consider the following categories of sleep apps—and recommendations for individual titles—when deciding which tools you’d like to use to get better sleep.
Meditation
Apps like Calm and the Healthy Minds Program offer guided meditations from experts. These programs may help people relieve stress and cultivate awareness through body scans, gratitude exercises, and related practices.
Sleep stories
Several sleep apps include relaxing narratives that can distract the mind and help users doze off. Often involving peaceful music and comforting themes, these bedtime stories are typically narrated in a calm, soothing voice. Popular sleep story apps include Slumber, which offers over 300 stories for adults and children, and Moshi, which is primarily geared toward children.
Sleep tracking
There are numerous apps that can provide you with data on your vital signs, the length of your sleep stages, and how often you wake up during the night. These may operate through your smartphone or through devices, such as watches or over-mattress sleep trackers. Many sleep trackers provide users with a daily sleep score, offering insights into overall sleep quality.
Many apps that track sleep also feature alarms, which can wake users at optimal times. By waiting until you’re in the lightest sleep phase, they allow you to complete full sleep cycles, potentially helping you feel more rested in the morning. Apps that track sleep and offer smart alarms include SleepScore, Sleep Cycle, and Sleepwave.
White noise and sleep sounds
Ambient sounds can help users relax and drown out potentially distracting outside noises. This can be helpful if you have trouble falling asleep due to sensitivity to sounds. Using one of these apps, you can listen to white noise, crashing waves, jungle sounds, or binaural beats as you fall asleep. Chorus Sleep, White Noise, and BetterSleep are popular apps that offer sleep sounds.
How therapy can help you get a better night’s sleep
If you’re seeking tools to help you manage stress, relax, and sleep well, consider engaging in talk therapy. Although meeting with your doctor is recommended if you suspect underlying medical causes, a therapist can often help address underlying mental health causes of poor sleep. For example, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia is considered the most effective, non-pharmacological treatment for chronic trouble sleeping, and a therapist may also be able to address sleep disturbances due to stress or depression.
Fostering calm and restful sleep with online therapy
If sleep problems make it hard for you to travel to in-person therapy appointments, you might prefer online therapy. With an online therapy platform like BetterHelp, you can work through mental health-related sleep challenges with a licensed therapist from home using a smartphone app, computer, or other device. One helpful tool available through online therapy is in-app messaging, which allows you to reach out to your therapist between sessions and they’ll respond as soon as they’re able.
The effectiveness of online therapy
Research indicates that online therapy may help individuals who are experiencing co-occurring mental health and sleep challenges. For example, in one study, researchers suggest that online therapy led to “large reductions in symptoms of insomnia, anxiety, depression, and distress, as well as improvements in sleep efficiency and total sleep time.” These improvements were sustained at a three-month follow-up.
Takeaway
What is the best free sleep tracking app?
Sleep Cycle is considered one of the best free sleep tracking apps. However, it tends to have some paid features. Several apps may offer a free trial of paid features to allow you to see if they work for you. You can download Sleep Cycle from Google Play or the Apple Store.
Do sleep apps actually work?
Sleep apps can work as a way to track sleep patterns and gain insight into ways to improve sleep. However, accuracy may vary across different apps. Sleep apps range from those used on wearables to those you can use on your smartphone.
What is the best sleep tracker without a monthly fee?
Several sleep trackers are free on the Apple Store and Google Play stores, but some have some paid features. You might try SleepScore for a free app that doesn’t require wearing a tracker on your wrist. However, the full range of features typically requires a premium service.
How much deep sleep do you need?
Research suggest that adults should get between 60 and 100 minutes of deep sleep per eight-hour session. This amounts to approximately 20% of sleep.
What is the most accurate sleep tracker?
Given the relative newness of sleep trackers, it can be difficult to say with certainty which is the most accurate. One of the highest rated sleep trackers is SleepWatch. While you may get the most accurate data by using an Apple Watch, the app can also track sleep if it’s used on an Apple device near your pillow. To use the app, you typically need to allow it to gain access to Apple Health on your phone.
What is the problem with sleep apps?
One of the potential problems with sleep apps may be inconsistency across devices. As the technology advances, sleep apps may be able to track different sleep stages and sleep trends more accurately.
Is REM sleep good?
Research suggests that REM sleep is important for consolidating memories and processing emotional experience. REM sleep may help you feel refreshed in the morning.
Do sleep trackers cause anxiety?
Sleep trackers in and of themselves don’t necessarily cause anxiety. However, some people may think too much about their tracker, which can make it difficult to fall asleep quickly.
What are the benefits of a sleep tracker?
A sleep tracker may give you an idea of what happens during a sleep session. They tend to provide a sleep report that includes information on sleep stages and sleep disruption based on body movements to change sleep position. With this information, you might consider speaking with a sleep coach or a doctor who specializes in sleep medicine to get advice on how to improve your sleep.
Do sleep trackers help with insomnia?
Some sleep trackers may include sounds or breathing exercises that help you fall asleep faster. To relieve insomnia, you might consider using not only app technology to track sleep but also strategies that help with sleep hygiene. For example, it may help to establish a bedtime routine and use sleep meditations in the evening. You may also benefit from speaking with a specialist in sleep medicine for personalized sleep advice. Also, if you’re sleep deprived due to acute stress, you might consider consulting a clinical psychologist.
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