There’s a new sleep disorder dubbed ‘orthosomnia’ – and it’s caused by your iPhone

IF you're a fan of sleep apps we've got some bad news for you, they could be doing you more harm than good.

They may give you a rough idea of how much sleep you are getting, how often you wake up and whether you are getting enough restorative REM sleep.

But they can also encourage you to obsessively track you sleep, which in turn can leave you suffering with insomnia.

Kind of defeats the purpose, right?

Orthosomnia is a new sleep disorder that essentially means people become overly concerned with getting the "perfect" sleep.

It was first coined in a case study published last year in the Journal of Clinical Sleep, which followed several patients with sleep problems.

The researchers found that those who were using sleep tracking apps were more likely to suffer sleep problems, because they were too anxious about sleeping well to get a good night's rest.

And it's something sleep expert Dr Nerina has seen first hand.

She told The Sun Online she has seen several clients becoming obsessed with getting the "perfect" night's sleep, all based on their sleep apps.

"It is a recently emerged form of insomnia caused by an obsessive fixation with what your sleep tracker is telling you about your sleep," Dr Nerina said.

"What I have seen in my clinic is that they are causing my clients sleep problems, they are becoming fixated on getting the 'ideal' type of sleep.

"They are chasing is the idea of the perfect number of hours of sleep, the perfect amount of deep sleep and the perfect amount of REM sleep.

"They were becoming fixated on not waking up during the night and how many hours their tracker told them they were awake during the night."

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"But these devices are not accurately measuring your sleep.

"And they are creating more worry about your sleep."

In worst case scenarios, Dr Nerina said some people believe they need sleeping pills to get them to the land of nod, which can cause more problems with their sleep.

The important thing to remember about sleep is, everyone is different.

How many hours of sleep one person needs to feel refreshed and well rested in the morning is different to what the next person needs.

"Sleep varies individually, it varies according to how you are feeling," Dr Nerina said.

"I would say that the perfect nights sleep is the kind of sleep from which you awaken feeling really good and looking forward to the day ahead.

"You may have had five hours of sleep and feel that or you may have had nine hours.

"But if you wake up thinking you haven't had a good night's sleep then that creates a vicious cycle."

So, should you ditch your sleep apps altogether?

That depends on if it is affecting your sleep pattern.

If you can use them without becoming obsessive, then go for it.

But as soon as you start to rely on them to track you sleep you need to get rid of them.

"All in all I would say they are not good, but they are great for a bit of fun," Dr Nerina said.

"In terms of sleep and the mystery of sleep, we need to take it with a pinch of salt.

"Leave the phone out of the bedroom, get off technology half an hour before you get into bed.

"Start exercising more, start eating breakfast, start drinking more water, start getting technology out of the room and then measure your sleep again, as well as paying attention to how much better you feel.

"I'm not saying you can't use them, but use them to playfully assess the effect of changing things in your life and how that might affect your sleep."