DON’T get a sleep tracker for serious problems They are fine if you are just curious about how your lifestyle affects you. “Lots of people are interested in measuring the effects of coffee late in the day, or the impact of alcohol on sleep,” says Alice Gregory, professor of psychology at Goldsmiths specialising in sleep. “And that’s all good.
” But they are not helpful if sleep has become a real issue. In fact, they could make things worse. Obsessing over data can induce an unhealthy preoccupation with achieving optimal sleep – orthosomnia.
“People are getting information which is sometimes not reliable,” Gregory says, “and then getting very worried about certain aspects of their sleep that they actually don’t need to worry about at all.” Sleep stages like “light”, “deep” and “REM” aren’t as meaningful as the apps would have users believe. DO go to the GP They should be your first port of call, Gregory says.
Medical professionals can help you access proven resources, such as the Nice-approved CBTi programme , Sleepio. “There’s data to support its effectiveness,” Gregory says, “as a good first-line treatment for someone with chronic insomnia.” They can also check if issues with sleep indicate other problems, such as anxiety or depression.
DON’T count calories There is evidence that logging food intake on an app to help reduce how many calories you eat can be very effective in helping those with obesity, says Dr Alaina Vidmar, wh.