Good sleep is essential for our mental health and wellbeing1, but research shows that 40% of our young people will experience a significant sleep problem by early high school2. For our teens, this can be worrying, as insomnia, and poor sleep quality are often associated with a range of mental health and mood disorders, including depression and anxiety.   Â
After recognising the lack of preventative sleep-based digital programs out there for young people, our partner Black Dog Institute worked with young people and parents to design and develop their own app, Sleep Ninja. Â
Informed by Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), the free app offers six 'training sessions' to help teens’ develop healthy sleep habits and improve sleep quality.  Â
The 'choose our own adventure' style chat function within the app also allows young people to learn about sleep in a fun, interactive way under the guidance of the ‘Master Sleep Ninja.' Â
So far, Black Dog Institute has seen positive improvements in sleep patterns among users of the app. During their trial, they found that 90% of Sleep Ninja users experienced some improvement in insomnia symptoms, and 60% reported improvements in sleep quality. The study also found that rates of depression symptoms had dropped from 77% to 44% after using the app.3Â Â
By helping teenagers to establish healthy sleep habits, we hope to provide the foundations to support teens’ positive emotional, social and physical wellbeing as well as academic performance during their school years. Â
We’ve partnered with Black Dog Institute since 2008, supporting various projects including, their HeadStrong and MindStrength resource programs and iBobbly- the world’s first suicide and mental illness prevention app for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia.Â
You can find out more on Black Dog Institute's website or download the app today Apple app store or Google Play.
