Australian Psychologist’s Mobile App is Putting Stressed People to Sleep
iPhone and Android app uses bilateral stimulation, a treatment element of EMDR, to send even the most anxious and stressed individuals off to dream land.
PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2nd October 2018 – Melbourne: With insomnia becoming a problem of epidemic proportions and according to Sleep Health Foundation costing the Australian economy $66 billion in 2016/17, we are in desperate need of a solution. The same report found that almost 40 per cent of Australians don't get enough sleep. The most common unrecognised source of this is severe or chronic stress. In fact, experts no longer consider insomnia a sleeping disorder, but a stress disorder. This month, which is also World Mental Health Month, renowned Australian psychologist Mark Grant is releasing a new mobile app called Sleep Restore, which is helping people around the world find rest through its incorporation of bilateral stimulation - a treatment element of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing).
Sleep Restore is the only app that is designed to address the underlying causes of stress-related insomnia. On first use, Sleep Restore evaluates the issues causing a person to suffer from insomnia such as severe stress or traumatic experiences in their life and then selects a specialized set of audio treatments for them to listen to as they lay down to sleep. A unique feature of the app is bilateral stimulation (bls) which, in effect, creates an auditory illusion that something is moving, which engages the brain and holds attention long enough for a relaxation effect to develop. This effect harnesses the brains survival response to actually reduce stress-related brain activity. Bilateral stimulation has been found to decrease brain activity associated with stress and stimulate brain activity associated with restful sleep.
The Sleep Restore app is free to download on iTunes and in Google Play for most mobile devices including phones and tablets. The free version comes with a complete sleep evaluation tool and six tracks that are 20 minutes long each. The tracks consist of a blend of music, nature sounds, guided mediations and bilateral stimulation. For those who wish to have more options, a premium version is available for around $AUD9.50 (price may vary due to currency fluctuations) for a total of 18 tracks (with bonus tracks). Users who complete a sleep evaluation questionnaire in the app receive 2 free bonus tracks and their sleep data will anonymously be evaluated in ongoing sleep research.
Mark will be launching the app by presenting a free seminar on World Mental Health Day, Wednesday 10th October 2018 at Mingara Recreation Club, Tumbi Umbi at 7pm on stress induced insomnia. Tickets can be obtained through Event Brite or via Mark’s Facebook page.
About Mark Grant:
Mark Grant MA is an Australian clinical psychologist/researcher with 20 years experience in practice. He is particularly interested in the impact of stress on health and the involvement of the brain in stress and is a regular presenter at conferences around the world on the subject. He has researched the application of innovative methods such as EMDR in the treatment of chronic pain and his ideas have been regularly cited in such publications as The New York Times and The Journal of Clinical and Consulting Psychology. He has created various self-help resources for people suffering from chronic pain anxiety and now insomnia. These include Change Your Brain Change Your Pain, (book & audio downloads) Anxiety Release (app), Calm and Confident (audio download) and many more. Further information can be found on Mark’s website www.overcomingpain.com