Can the iPhone Improve Your Sleep?

Sleeping is a complicated matter. There is a real science behind why we sleep and how we sleep. If you suffer from a sleep related disorder, you might be prescribed medication or more favorably you can have your sleep behavior assessed and monitored. Of course the latter is more expensive, but it doesn't include the negative medication side-effects. If you are anti medication and cannot afford the sleep therapy, what do you do? Reach for your iPhone and download the 'Proactivesleep' app for $4.99.

The Proactive Sleep application was developed by Daniel Gartenberg and Justin Beck, two graduates of the University of Wisconsin. They recognize how, if you used correctly technology really can make life easier. They developed an alarm clock application that tracks the quantity and quality of your sleep. The application keeps track of how much you are sleeping by determining when you set your alarm and when it goes off, how many sleep disturbances you experience throughout the night based on you pressing a button if you awake, and your morning fatigue which is determined using a stimulating game that you play after your alarm goes off. This information is then displayed to you in a personalized Sleep Diary along with other sleep statistics that can help you better assess and understand your sleep. The application also employs elements of relaxation therapy and stimulus control therapy to help you fall asleep and auditory and motor stimulation to help you wake up.  Specifically, you can fall asleep and wake up to any music in your iTunes library and play a game in the morning in order to stimulate you to awaken at your maximum best.