Mental health improvements for teens through sleep app

With 40 per cent of young people having experienced a significant sleep problem by early high school, a new app designed to improve teens’ sleep behaviour is showing strong early results.

Sleep Ninja, a free app created by the Black Dog Institute, has shown significant early results in improving teenagers’ sleep patterns.

Who would have thought a teenager’s mobile phone might help them manage their mental health by supporting a good night’s sleep?

A new app aimed at 12- to 16-year-olds is showing strong early results doing just that, improving both the hours of sleep and reducing depression and anxiety.

Sleep Ninja, a free app created by the Black Dog Institute, has shown significant early results in improving teenagers’ sleep patterns, so critical not just for school readiness but for overall good mental health, co-­creator Aliza Werner-Seidler said.

“Adolescents struggle to get the recommended eight to 10 hours of sleep each night,” Dr Werner-Seidler, a clinical psychologist, said.

“As a result, approximately 40 per cent of all young people will experience a significant sleep problem by early high school which heightens their risk of mental ill-health. Sleep difficulties are a risk factor for the onset of mental ill-health, and insomnia is a symptom of a range of disorders including depression and anxiety.”

Dr Werner-Seidler said those using the app nominate a time to be up in the morning to make it to school or other activities. From there, it works backwards, determining when they should be in bed.

“The app gives an alert to start a pre-bed routine, which commences at least an hour before bed time. Part of that routine is to put the phone and other devices away, and engage in behaviours more conducive to sleep.

“Some of this is simply to have a clear wind-down routine, have a shower, clean teeth, read a book, but the app also offers a form of cognitive behaviour therapy to help them establish sleep routines, things like how to set up their bedroom, what to do during the day to improve their chances of sleep and how to reduce those negative repetitive thoughts that come in at night,” she said.

There is practical advice too. “If you are in bed for more than 20 minutes, get up, do something else like read a book until you are sleepy, so that you associate the bed as a place of sleep rather than of frustration or agitation.”

Dr Werner-Seidler said Sleep Ninja was the only commercially available sleep support app designed specifically for adolescents, and the results so far had been very encouraging.

“During the trial, 90 per cent of users showed at least some improvement in insomnia symptoms and 60 per cent reported improvements in sleep quality,” she said. “We also saw rates of depression drop from 77 per cent … at the start of the study to 44 per cent after using the app.”