Today we are celebrating world sleep day, advocating and raising awareness for sleep health. Sleep is an important part of maintaining our physical and mental wellbeing, and a lack of sleep or too much sleep can impact mood, energy, and concentration. Sleep issues can be caused by many things, such as stress, the food you eat, or screen time. There are also a range of sleep disorders such as insomnia, hypersomnia, and sleep apnoea which require treatment.
There are a range of digital mental health resources available to help understand, identify and treat sleep problems. The services below provide information, advice, and support for people experiencing sleep issues, and health professionals supporting someone with a sleep disorder-related problem.
Better Health Channel
Sleep
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/conditionsandtreatments/sleep
The Better Health Channel provides health and medical information to individuals and communities to help people understand and manage their health and wellbeing. Their website includes information on a range of topics including sleep. They outline the importance of sleep for mind and body health, common causes, disorders, and ways to manage sleep problems.
Sleep Health Foundation
https://www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/
The Sleep Health Foundation is Australia’s leading advocate for healthy sleep, aiming to improve people’s lives through better sleep. Their website includes information and a range of factsheets on sleep-related topics, resources, tips, and advice regarding common sleep problems.
Beyond Blue
Sleeping Well
https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/staying-well/sleeping-well
Beyond Blue is an Australian mental health organisation, providing support and information on a range of mental health and wellbeing topics. Their website includes information on sleeping well, how disrupted sleep affects your wellbeing, tips for improving sleep and overcoming long-term sleeping problems.
Raising Children Network
https://raisingchildren.net.au/
The Raising Children Network is an online service providing parenting videos, articles, apps, and information guides to busy families and parents from pregnancy through to adulthood. Their website includes information and advice on sleep for babies, toddlers, teenagers, and parents. They provide guidance on typical sleep patterns, what to expect, how to identify and handle sleep issues, and tips for how parents and children can sleep better.
ReachOut
Sleep Issues
https://au.reachout.com/mental-wellbeing/sleep-issues
ReachOut is an online mental health service for young Australians and their parents. They provide self-help information, peer support, and referral tools to support young people in staying well and managing their mental health. Their website includes information on sleep issues, insomnia, how to get a good night’s sleep, and treatments for sleeping issues.
headspace
Sleeping well for a health headspace
https://headspace.org.au/explore-topics/for-young-people/get-enough-sleep/
headspace is a National Youth Mental Health Foundation, acting as a one-stop-shop for young people who need help with mental health, physical health, alcohol, and other drugs, or work/study issues. Their website includes information, advice, activities, and support on a range of issues including healthy sleep. They explore how sleep can affect emotions and mood, understanding your sleep habits, and ways to improve your sleep. Also available on the headspace website are factsheets on sleep and young people and sleep and gaming.
Smiling Mind
https://www.smilingmind.com.au/
Smiling Mind is a web and app-based mindfulness meditation and wellness program, designed to improve the daily lives of young Australians. The program helps users practice daily mindfulness and meditation to improve stress, sleep, attention, concentration, wellbeing, and more. Smiling Mind also offers dedicated sleep programs for Adults, Kids, and Teens to assist with getting to sleep and improving overall sleep quality.
ReachOut WorryTime
https://au.reachout.com/tools-and-apps/reachout-worrytime
ReachOut WorryTime is an app developed by ReachOut to help people control everyday stress and anxiety by acting as a place to store daily worries. The app interrupts repetitive thinking by setting aside worries until later, so users don’t get caught up in them and can get on with their day. Users decide on a time, place, and length of time to deal with their worries every day, and the app will alert users when it’s time to think about them.
THIS WAY UP
Insomnia
https://thiswayup.org.au/programs/insomnia-program/
THIS WAY UP is an Australian service providing treatment, education, and research in the realm of mental health, including tools and programs to help people manage a range of mental health conditions and their general wellbeing, including Insomnia. The Insomnia program is a 4-lesson program teaching proven strategies for tackling symptoms and how to work with your thoughts, emotions, and behaviours to improve sleep and make positive mood changes.
The THIS WAY UP Mindfulness program could also be beneficial for people experiencing sleep problems, teaching mindfulness skills to tackle stress and help users feel more at ease in their daily life.
My Digital Health
iSleepWell
https://www.mydigitalhealth.org.au/programs-available/
My Digital Health is an online platform offering general mental health and eHealth information, consumer resources, and eHealth programs on a range of topics. The iSleepWell program is a 6-module mobile and web-based biopsychosocial and cognitive behavioural intervention program for insomnia. The modules provide psycho-education on biopsychosocial health, self-monitoring of sleep, and ways to increase sleep flexibility and wellness flexibility.
Centre for Clinical Interventions
Sleep
https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/Resources/Looking-After-Yourself/Sleep
The Centre for Clinical Interventions (CCI) is a specialist public mental health service, conducting clinically applied research, providing training for clinicians, and delivering treatment to adults suffering from mood, anxiety, and eating disorders. Their website provides a range of resources on looking after yourself or someone else, including information sheets and worksheets for sleep. The factsheets cover facts about sleep, insomnia, sleep hygiene, nightmares, and imagery rescripting.
Open Arms
Healthy Sleeping
https://www.openarms.gov.au/get-support/self-help-tools/show-all-tools/behaviours/healthy-sleeping
Open Arms is Australia’s leading provider of high-quality mental health assessment, clinical counselling, and support services for Australian veterans and their families. Their website provides information and self-help tools on a range of issues including healthy sleeping. The healthy sleeping tool helps with sleep issues in the short and long term, examining current sleep habits and providing tips on how to improve their behaviour for better sleep.
Black Dog Institute Bush Fire Support Service
Strategies for long term health and wellbeing – Trouble Sleeping
The Black Dog Institute Bush Fire Support Service provides information and a free mental health assessment to emergency service workers and their families, or anyone coping with the stress of bushfires. The website provides information on a range of topics relating to short and long-term mental health and wellbeing including trouble sleeping, with tips for sleeping well.
Black Dog Institute
Sleep, fatigue and stress in healthcare workers
Black Dog Institute is an Australian organisation addressing new challenges and opportunities in mental health, investigating new and better ways to treat and prevent mood disorders, and providing tools and information on a range of mental wellbeing issues. Their website includes information on sleep, fatigue, and stress in healthcare workers, explaining the importance of sleep, what constitutes good sleep, and useful tips for sleeping well or dealing with chronic sleep problems.
Griefline
Tips to Improve Your Sleep
https://apps.apple.com/au/app/sleep-ninja/id1210214623
Griefline is an Australian support service providing counselling and support to anyone experiencing grief, loss, and any related feelings. Their website provides evidence-based information and resources to help people understand and cope with their experiences, including tips to improve sleep. They explain how grief and loss can affect sleep, how to identify a sleep problem, a downloadable sleep diary, and strategies to improve sleep.
Kids Helpline
Kids 5-12: Why sleep is important for you
https://kidshelpline.com.au/kids/issues/why-sleep-important-you
Teens 13-17: Why sleep is so important
https://kidshelpline.com.au/teens/issues/why-sleep-so-important
Kids Helpline is a free, confidential counselling service for young people aged 5-15 years dealing with a range of issues. Their website provides information to young people, their parents, and supporters on a range of topics including sleep. They explain the importance of sleep, the benefits of good sleep, good sleep habits, and ways to get more sleep.
Health Direct
Sleep
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/sleep
Sleep Disorders
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/sleep-disorders
Insomnia
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/insomnia
Health Direct is a national virtual public health service, providing 24/7 information, advice, and referrals for Australian health and mental health issues. Their website provides information on a range of health topics, including sleep, sleep disorders, and insomnia. They examine the stages of sleep, the effects of good sleep and the impact of not getting enough sleep, sleep hygiene, and tips for healthy sleep. Health Direct also helps people understand insomnia and other sleep disorders, the symptoms, causes, and treatment, as well as an online symptom checker for people worried about their health.
Head to Health
Sleep
https://www.headtohealth.gov.au/meaningful-life/physical-health/sleep
Head to Health was developed by the Australian Department of Health to connect people to trusted online and phone mental health services appropriate for their individual needs. Their goal is to connect people with suitable digital mental health resources, however their website does include information on a range of mental health and wellbeing topics, including sleep. They provide a brief overview of sleeping patterns, good sleep habits, and suggests a range of relevant digital mental health services.
APS
Insomnia
https://psychology.org.au/for-the-public/psychology-topics/insomnia
The Australian Psychological Society (APS) is a national organisation promoting and celebrating psychology in Australia. Their website includes information and resources on a range of mental health topics for health professionals and consumers. These resources include a guide to insomnia, outlining the symptoms, causes, treatment, and tips to improve sleep or access support. The information is available online or as a downloadable factsheet.
Transcultural Mental Health Centre
A Practical guide series: A good night’s sleep
The Transcultural Mental Health Centre is a New South Wales service providing information to culturally and linguistically diverse individuals, communities, and health professionals, to support good mental health. They have developed a range of downloadable guides and factsheets, available in multiple languages on health and wellbeing topics. The ‘A Practical Guide’ series provides practical information about getting a good night’s sleep, problem-solving and setting goals, promoting wellbeing and stress management in Arabic, Burmese, Croatian, English, Farsi, Filipino, Greek, Indonesian, Italian, Maltese, Nepali, Polish, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swahili, Tamil, Tibetan, and Vietnamese.
There are a variety of factors and mental health conditions that can affect sleep, and digital mental health resources can help to manage these factors to improve sleep and overall health. View or download the Digital Mental Health for Sleep Problems factsheet to find out more about digital mental health resources for factors that affect sleep. This factsheet contains links to a range of specific resources for supporting your mental health and understanding sleep problems.
Factors that Affect Sleep
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