3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Jun 26
Summary
Orthosomnia—an obsession with “perfect” sleep driven by wearable data—can leave people sleeping worse by making them anxious about nightly scores rather than how rested they actually feel.
Sleep specialists say trackers can backfire because they estimate sleep from imperfect signals like movement, which may not match real sleep time or stages yet still shape how users think and act the next day.
Immediate morning score-checking, minute-by-minute review of overnight data and trouble falling asleep over fear of a bad score are key warning signs; people with anxiety or perfectionist tendencies may be especially vulnerable.
Experts recommend basic sleep hygiene, paying more attention to body cues than app metrics, and even dropping a tracker for 1 month or seeking therapy if sleep anxiety becomes hard to manage.