Dawn Health

This app improved my sleep habits hugely. It used a combination of one on one coaching by texting and 2-3 minute daily readings to teach me how to improve my sleep. My coach, Beth, was so knowledgeable, kind, and caring and guided me and answered any questions I had through a personal messaging system within the app. The price also included a 30 minute phone session with her. I thought I knew a lot about sleep science, but it turns out there was so much I didn’t know. The system is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Insomnia) or CBTi-based. If you do some good research on your own, you’ll find CBTi is the gold-standard to improve sleeping. It works through a combination of natural sleep drive science and psych therapy to let go of those midnight worries about your insomnia. Throw out those sleep meditation tracks and the “eliminate blue light of digital devices!!” dogma. This is the real deal. Do the readings every day, work with your coach, have discipline to go to bed and awake in the recommended window, and spend a minute each morning punching in your data to the app so you can chart your progress. Yeah the sticker price seems high but it worked for me. They even have a post-therapy maintenance mode at a greatly reduced price which I found valuable for a couple months.

I struggled for years with waking up several times each night and taking a long time to get back to sleep as my brain went round and round. I tried relaxation exercises and breathing exercises, and the result was that I was very relaxed as my brain chattered away for an hour. I tried sleeping pills and still woke up several times but was groggy in the morning. I tried many other things to improve my sleep, but nothing helped. I would get up in the morning feeling tired and worried that I hadn’t gotten enough sleep, so I’d take a nap later that day. I was always stressed about sleep and the lack of it. My sister discovered the Dawn app and told me about it, and it made sense. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia is a proven treatment, and the Dawn app makes it easy and convenient to follow a CBT program. I started to notice an improvement in my sleep—and most importantly, in my attitude about sleep—after only a couple of weeks on the program. After two months my sleep was much better quality and my sleep pattern was more consistent. My sleep continues to improve, along with my energy level and general contentment. I highly recommend this program. It works!

My review is based on the free trial. I am naturally a night owl, and after a baby, my sleep schedule was completely messed up. Fast forward 2 years— toddlers still do not sleep through the night. Sleeping late + waking up at night + rising early mornings meant 4-5 hours of sleep, and I was no longer able to sleep at a reasonable hour. Just thinking of sleep created lots of stress. We all know that sleep is VERY important and often an overlooked part of your health so I was determined to make a change. I started using meditation apps to help, but I still needed another boost, and I found this app. Though this app is not for every cause of insomnia, I was screened with a quiz and found that I was a suitable candidate for it. I have done independent research and found that CBT is generally effective. Though medications may help some people, it is not something I was interested in at all. This app is very helpful because it takes out the effort needed to find a coach, and the time spent going to and from those visits. It saves me time, but still offers the help I am seeking and welcoming. You chat with a behavioral therapist coach and I have found the coach’s comments to be very insightful. I think my sleep has improved, somewhat; I am still not where I would like to be. I am hopeful my sleep will continue to improve, and I look forward to seeing how much this will help this busy, stressed out parent.