Nod off to this: NHS offers digital app as cure for insomnia

THE NHS is to offer free therapy via smartphones to millions of insomniacs.

Under the programme being piloted across the South East, patients will be able to download an app that has been dubbed “a digital sleeping pill”.

The strategy is the first NHS roll-out of “direct access” digital medicine – meaning that the health service is funding the app which anyone living in the area can download.

The approach uses cognitive behavioural therapy techniques and sleep tracking to help those with persistent insomnia find their best sleeping patterns, and to overcome the “racing mind” that can prevent a good night’s sleep.

It comes as research led by the University of Oxford found that almost three quarters of those following the programme saw an improvement in their wellbeing.

The study of 1,700 adults, mostly female, with an aver- age age of 40, found than on average, “sleep-related quality of life” was boosted by almost a fifth, six months after starting the six-week programme.

The research, published in JAMA Psychiatry, found those following the programme saw a fall in depression, anxiety, and fatigue symptoms, as well as seeing a productivity boost at work.

The Sleepio app, which can be accessed via smartphone or web, will be offered in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire this month.

Around one in five adults is estimated to suffer from chronic sleeplessness at some stage of their lives.

Treatment is dominated by medication, with 12 million prescriptions for insomnia written last year. Colin Espie, professor of sleep medicine and the study’s lead author, said the research showed that online therapy – which involves sleep tracking, weekly advice sessions and techniques to calm the mind – is an effective treatment for insomnia.