美国国家公共电台 NPR Some Apps May Help Curb Insomnia, Others Just Put You To Sleep

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

If you have trouble sleeping, well, join the club. And we all might be interested in a new study that suggests people with insomnia¹ might find relief in a mobile phone app. There are many sleep apps out there, but as NPR's Rhitu Chatterjee reports, scientists say some apps are better than others.

RHITU CHATTERJEE, BYLINE²: Try searching for sleep apps on your phone, and you'll likely come up with a long list. To get a sense of which apps people like to use, we asked our audience on social media and got nearly a hundred responses.

(SOUNDBITE OF UNIDENTIFIED PODCAST)

UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR #1: Welcome to bedtime stories for grown-ups.

CHATTERJEE: That's a popular podcast. Christina Bellows³ of Ypsilanti, Mich., depends on it.

CHRISTINA BELLOWS: Using this podcast, I think each one is, like, maybe 20 minutes, and I very rarely make it all the way through.

CHATTERJEE: Then there's Paige Thesing from Santa Barbara, Calif., who's had insomnia since high school. She's been using an app called Inscape for about 4 months.

PAIGE THESING: It starts with a woman kind of telling you to relax and instructing your breathing.

(SOUNDBITE OF INSCAPE APP)

UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR #2: Begin by taking a few long, deep breaths.

CHATTERJEE: Thesing says it used to take her four hours to fall asleep. Now it only takes her about 20 minutes.

(SOUNDBITE OF INSCAPE APP)

UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR #2: And relax as you are.

CHATTERJEE: But most of these apps and podcasts don't treat the underlying⁴ insomnia, says Jason Ong, a clinical psychologist and sleep researcher at Northwestern University.

JASON ONG: These type of apps that are really more trying to get people to relax, it's usually not a very stable and sustainable solution.

CHATTERJEE: That's because they don't address the reasons why people struggle with sleep, like stress, anxiety or bad sleep habits. The most effective treatment, he says, is a form of talk therapy called cognitive⁵ behavioral therapy for insomnia, or CBTI. It helps people understand the biology of sleep and why their own habits and behaviors might be messing with it.

ONG: If you modify some your behaviors, you can actually work better with the way your brain regulates sleep and wake.

CHATTERJEE: CBTI gives people tools and tips to change those behaviors. For example, if someone is kept up in bed by anxiety, it suggests scheduling a worry time during the day. This therapy also helps people sleep more efficiently⁶, say, by spending less time in bed and getting out of bed if they can't fall asleep.

ONG: An important part of CBTI is to teach people that what's going to give you confidence in being able to sleep again is to follow these tools so that from a night-to-night basis you're much more likely to be sleeping.

CHATTERJEE: Now people can get CBTI directly on their mobile phones through a handful of apps, and studies have shown that these apps are effective. One is called Sleepio.

ONG: In Sleepio, it's like an avatar of a real therapist who's walking a patient through that process.

CHATTERJEE: Ong was a consultant⁷ for the team that developed Sleepio, although he has no ongoing⁸ financial interest in the product. He was also the co-author on a recent study in which participants reported that their insomnia symptoms and overall quality of life improved after using the app. Now, CBTI apps aren't widely available, and while they cost less than in-person therapy, they can be pricey. A 26-week subscription⁹ of one called SHUTi costs $149. But there is one free app developed by the Veterans Administration and is called CBT-i Coach. John Torous is a psychiatrist¹⁰ at Harvard Medical School. He recommends it to his patients.

JOHN TOROUS: Anyone can access it. You don't have to be a veteran.

CHATTERJEE: However, he cautions that these apps may not work for everybody. One of the problems is that people don't stick with them. That's why, he says, if you find something you like, use it.

TOROUS: If you find something that works, I think that's always a good first step.

CHATTERJEE: The next step, he says, is to talk to your doctor. Insomnia is a complex disorder¹¹ and is sometimes caused by underlying medical conditions that are easily treatable. Besides, he says, keeping your doctor informed might give some extra motivation to stick to an app and make sure you always get a good night's sleep. Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR News.

1 insomnia   

n.失眠，失眠症

参考例句：

• Worries and tenseness can lead to insomnia.忧虑和紧张会导致失眠。
• He is suffering from insomnia.他患失眠症。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 bellows   

n.风箱；发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的名词复数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的第三人称单数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫

参考例句：

• His job is to blow the bellows for the blacksmith. 他的工作是给铁匠拉风箱。 来自辞典例句
• You could, I suppose, compare me to a blacksmith's bellows. 我想，你可能把我比作铁匠的风箱。 来自辞典例句

4 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

5 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

6 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

7 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

8 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

9 subscription   

n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方）

参考例句：

• We paid a subscription of 5 pounds yearly.我们按年度缴纳5英镑的订阅费。
• Subscription selling bloomed splendidly.订阅销售量激增。

10 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

11 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。