- Published
Sleep scores, magnesium, white noise machines - what was once the simple act of sleeping has become a minefield.
asserted
was → publish → sleeping
Trying to optimise sleep in this way is called "sleepmaxxing".
asserted
Trying → try → way
Take it too far, and you could end up with "orthosomnia" - the clinical term for an obsession with achieving perfect sleep.
uncertain
you → take → sleep
While it's not formally recognised as a condition in the UK, doctors tell the BBC they've noticed signs of orthosomnia in their patients, with some bringing their sleep tracker data into appointments convinced, wrongly, that they have a sleep disorder.
asserted
they → recognise → disorder
That fixation is actually making people's sleep worse, they warn.
asserted
they → make → ?
So how and why did sleep become so complicated?
asserted
sleep → become → ?
'Sleep scores are completely made up'
asserted
scores → make → ?
The first commercial fitness tracker to incorporate sleep analysis was the Fitbit Classic in 2009.
asserted
tracker → incorporate → 2009
Since then, many others - including Garmin, Whoop and Apple - have integrated sleep trackers into wrist-worn devices, as have smart rings such as Oura, Ultrahuman and RingConn.
asserted
rings → include → Oura
These devices vary, but in general they all provide users with a report of their night, broken down by sleep stages - time awake, light sleep, deep sleep, and REM (rapid eye movement).
asserted
they → vary → stages
Many also give users a "sleep score".
asserted
Many → give → score
But the concept of a sleep score is "completely made up", according to Dr Alanna Hare, consultant of sleep medicine at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London.
uncertain
concept → make → London
"There's nothing recognised in sleep science that is a 'sleep score'," she tells the BBC.
asserted
she → be → science
"That's just been created by manufacturers."
asserted
That → create → manufacturers
Hare says she's noticed trackers causing anxiety among her patients.
asserted
trackers → say → patients
"I've noticed more patients coming to me with data from various trackers, with lots of questions about sleep that... is probably contributing to their sleep difficulties," she says.
asserted
she → notice → difficulties
Even though some have had medical tests with reassuring results, this hasn't allayed their fears, she adds.
asserted
she → have → fears
"It's great that there's more focus on sleep as part of wellness," she adds.
asserted
she → ' → wellness
"But sleep just does not respond well to attempts to perfect it."
asserted
sleep → respond → it
One proposed lawsuit against Oura, filed last month in San Francisco, alleges that Oura rings are unable to accurately measure sleep quality and sleep stages, and instead rely on AI-generated estimates that have "a coin flip's chance of being correct".
asserted
that → propose → chance
In response, Oura told the BBC that it "stand[s] behind our science, research and accuracy claims".
uncertain
it → tell → claims
"We're committed to clearly communicating what Oura measures, what it estimates, and how members should use that information," the company added.
asserted
company → commit → information
Studies also show sleep trackers can affect how you function during the day, even if they're not accurate.
asserted
they → show → day
In one study, external from the University of Oxford, participants were given sleep trackers which assigned them a sleep score.
asserted
which → give → score
The scores were randomised, however, and had no relation to how the participants had actually slept.
asserted
participants → randomise → relation
The next day participants rated their mood, fatigue levels and alertness, before tests checking their focus and reaction times.
asserted
participants → rat → focus
Researchers found that the people told they'd slept badly reported feeling more fatigued, and were less mentally alert - even though the sleep scores were all fake.
asserted
scores → find → ?
This is something Jess Hill says she noticed in herself after getting a Garmin watch several years ago.
asserted
she → say → watch
"I started to rely on the watch as my Bible for whether I slept well or not," the 32-year-old HR professional from London tells the BBC.
"
asserted
professional → start → BBC
I would think, 'I've had awful sleep so I'm going to really struggle today', even if I actually probably had okay sleep.
asserted
I → think → sleep
If I'd slept really well, I'd be convinced I'd have to be on top - even though I was tired, I was pushing through things."
asserted
I → sleep → things
Her "obsession", as she describes it, with getting a high sleep score lasted three years, until earlier this year, when she started to notice the watch wasn't reflecting how she'd actually slept.
asserted
she → describe → year
"I was awake the other week for four hours in the night, and my watch was like 'wow, great sleep!' - I literally was awake from 01:00 until 05:00," she says.
asserted
she → say → 05:00
The BBC has approached Garmin for comment.
asserted
BBC → approach → comment
Dr Neil Stanley, sleep expert and author of the book How to Sleep Well, argues that gamifying sleep is creating more disordered sleeping.
asserted
gamifying → sleep → sleeping
"The thing with tracking your sleep is that it gives you a number, and this means you have a target," he tells the BBC.
asserted
he → track → target
"So you get into this cycle of worrying about your quality of sleep or the quantity of sleep based on figures."
asserted
you → get → figures
He says he carried out research into actigraphy - wrist-worn sleep trackers - around 40 years ago.
asserted
he → say → actigraphy
Though commercial trackers now are a bit more sophisticated, they work in much the same way - by measuring your movement - and have the same limitations, he says.
asserted
he → work → limitations
"If you want to measure sleep, you have to measure the brain," Stanley adds.
asserted
Stanley → want → brain
…and 6 more, not listed.
