Insomnia Coach

It’s interesting that the purveyors of CBTI (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia) give themselves outstanding grades as to their rates of success, but in this app, after one night reporting four and a half hours of sleep, their advice was to “see a professional.” So my sleep problem is great that you’re giving up on me? At first I thought all that mindfulness and record keeping was helpful, but it soon turned into making me MORE nervous about bedtime and the prospect of not sleeping. At one point the app suggested I go to bed at 1:30, as if by making myself so resoundingly exhausted, I’d immediately sleep. No, it just meant that my sleep would begin, maybe, at 2:00 or later. A big aspect of CBTI is to train your brain that your bed is only for sleeping (or sex, ha) so after 15 minutes of trying, you’re supposed to get up and do something else. Some nights I’d leave my warm bed and wander around the cool house two or three times, each time eating up about an hour of potential sleep time. I finally decided that if I was not going to sleep, I’d be better off staying in a comfortable place, at least resting, perhaps meditating. As a fellow sufferer, I don’t want to discourage anybody from seeking help with their insomnia. CBTI might work for you. It’s worth a try, and if you’re to do so, this app is probably as good as you’ll get. It’s designed by the Department of Veteran Affairs (or at least it has some veteran connection). It’s user-friendly. And, as I said, at first it helped. I just want to share that if it makes you feel you have to “perform” or else, you have my permission to relax, take half an Ambien (without feeling guilty), and go back to bed.

Way too detailed for me to answer. Trying to comply, I fear, would only make my sleep worse by hyperfocusing on it. But I can see the value for others. Thanks for creating a helpful tool.

Thank you, Dept of Veteran Affairs. Insomnia Coach is very helpful, and one of the best apps on my phone. With diligent use, the CBT-i exercises and procedures are very effective. I’m learning to sleep better without fear.

This has been a life changing app for me. The first 2 weeks are not easy, but the long term payoffs are huge. I’ve been sleeping pill free for a year now and maybe 95% of the time sleeping through the night and waking up feeling refreshed.

The bright white background and the inability to listen with the screen off is a no go.

I used to get 6-7 hours a night, and after following this program for 8 weeks I’m having heart palpitations in the middle of the night making me wake up after only 4-5. My body is very tired and I fight myself for hours to not fall asleep until my instructed sleep time, but then I wake up after about 4 hours and struggle to get sleepy again. It is taking me about an hour and a half to come down from my heart palpitations (and now sometimes panic attacks), and then I try to go back to sleep with very little success. My sleep was poor before but now it’s worse, and I fear that I’m stuck now because I’m incredibly anxious about losing sleep and I think that’s why my heart palpitations are happening in the early morning. I did not have these before I started the program. It’s nice to see this app has worked for others, but it’s not working for me and now I feel like I’m stuck with this worsened sleep.

I’m on the 5th week of the program and I understand that it wants me to stay up late to get tired enough so I can sleep better. However, it doesn't let me sleep more than 6-6.5 hours and I’m very tired as a result. Is this part of the program? When will it allow me to sleep more? Thank you.

I’ve just started using this and note a couple problems. The “Progress” tab doesnt accurately reflect the data I entered, it shows fewer “time asleep” hours that I entered in my diary. I got my first recommendation, which was to go to sleep at 1AM in order to wake up at 5:30, which would give me 4.5 hours of sleep, about 1.5 hours less than the average sleep I had recorded in my diary.

After 2+ years of insomnia, following the protocol in this app for 6 weeks has eliminated it. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. This app changed how I understand sleep. Now I have an extra 4 hours of life every day and I don’t wake up miserable or try to “catch up” on lost hours during the day. Instead, I’m living my life more fully, which makes sleeping easier too. It’s a virtuous cycle. VA, thank you for making this app and helping me get my life back on track. I’m ever grateful.

Fitbit beats this VA app to smitherins!