Help is now available for people in Forth Valley who are struggling with poor sleep and insomnia.

An NHS-accredited online programme known as Sleepio is now available alongside two other digital therapies – Daylight for anxiety and Silvercloud for wellbeing.

Dr Sally Rankine, NHS Forth Valley’s Head of Adult Mental Health Psychology, said: “We are delighted to be adding Sleepio to our programme of digital therapies. Difficulties with sleep can have a negative impact on many aspects of wellbeing so it is wonderful that this is now available.

“Daylight, Sleepio and Silvercloud allow local people to access cognitive behavioural therapies (CBT) in their own time and at their own pace to help them learn, develop and practise new skills proven to reduce worry and anxiety as well as improving their sleep.”

Daylight, which launched earlier this year in Forth Valley, uses evidence-based cognitive behavioural techniques to help understand and manage generalised anxiety to help people feel more in control.

Silvercloud for wellbeing is an online effective and easy-to-use suite of self-help programmes to improve mental wellbeing.

Big Health co-founder and Professor of Sleep Medicine at the University of Oxford, Professor Colin Espie, added: “Anxiety and poor sleep are long standing problems for many people in Scotland, and the pandemic has introduced new changes and pressures that place additional strain on our mental health.

“Accessing support through Daylight, Sleepio or Silvercloud for Wellbeing early on should help people develop helpful ways to deal with worry and prevent the worsening of symptoms and the need for referral to specialist services. It also allows people to learn and develop skills independently, leading to greater sense of coping.”

Online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has proved effective in the treatment of many mental health difficulties such as depression, anxiety and stress. It helps people to understand how thoughts, feelings and behaviours play a role in our difficulties and teaches strategies and techniques to allow them to respond in more helpful ways.

Sleepio, Daylight, and Silvercloud for Wellbeing are available to adults (18+) and can be accessed directly on a web-based or mobile device at any time of day:

• Daylight
• Sleepio
• Silver Cloud (use access code Scotland2020)

People create their own username and password so no-one can access any of their details and all data is stored in an encrypted database.