Orthosomnia: Can a Sleep Score Make You Anxious?
Do sleep scores cause sleep worry? A 2026 US survey found nearly a third of trackers screened positive for orthosomnia. See what that does and doesn't show.
NOV26
11/10/20265 min read
For some people, yes. In a 2026 US survey of 1,280 adults, about one in three tracked their sleep, and nearly a third of those trackers screened positive for orthosomnia: feeling nervous about their sleep data and unable to stop worrying over it. The abstract does not report how well those people slept, and its screening tool was adapted rather than validated for orthosomnia.
Key takeaways
Orthosomnia means worry about your sleep data that starts to interfere with sleep. It is not an official diagnosis.
The newest numbers come from a 2026 conference abstract, not a full paper, so treat them as a first signal.
We found no study that tested whether a sleep score causes anxiety, or whether pausing tracking helps.
The simplest step tonight is one with no number to check.
Something to try tonight
If a score has become something to check, try a screen with nothing to score. Hypnagogia-Pass is our own method: a word appears, then a matching picture, then the next word, each unrelated to the one before, on a dark screen. Our reasoning, not a study result: with no story to follow and no number to check, your attention can keep drifting. It has not been tested in a clinical trial, so think of it as a bedtime routine to try, not a treatment. You can read how we designed it.
Two other steps, each with its level of evidence:
Get out of bed if you have been awake for a while, and return when you feel sleepy. Evidence level: clinical guideline. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine's 2021 guideline conditionally recommends this approach, called stimulus control, as a single therapy for chronic insomnia (Edinger et al., 2021).
Look at your sleep data once in the morning, or take a few nights off from tracking. Evidence level: untested idea. We found no trial of it, but it costs nothing to try and you can stop at any time.
Orthosomnia: what the 2026 survey found
Goel and colleagues surveyed 1,280 US adults and presented the results in a 2026 abstract in the journal Sleep. Of the adults surveyed, 32.4% tracked their sleep. Among those trackers, 30.9% screened positive for orthosomnia risk. The authors describe this as roughly double earlier estimates. The work was supported by Oura, a maker of sleep-tracking rings.
Three limits matter. The screening used a short two-item measure adapted from a depression screener, not a validated orthosomnia test. A conference abstract has had less review than a full paper. And a survey shows who reports worry, not what caused it. For how common nighttime worry is in general, see our post on sleep anxiety and what surveys show.
The term itself is older. In 2017, Baron and colleagues described three people whose focus on tracker data went along with worse sleep complaints, and proposed the name orthosomnia (Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine). Three cases cannot show that trackers cause anything. A 2023 editorial in Nature and Science of Sleep also discussed the topic (Jahrami et al.).
You may see online claims that women are twice as likely to have orthosomnia. We found no source for that number, so we do not repeat it as fact.
Sleep score and Apple Watch sleep tracking: a number, not a verdict
A sleep score is one number built from several measurements. Each brand uses its own formula, so a 78 on one device is not a 78 on another. That is our reasoning, not a study result, but it is a reason to hold the number loosely.
In a 2025 survey of 2,007 US adults commissioned by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 48% said they track their sleep. That shows how common tracking has become. It does not show whether the numbers helped anyone sleep better.
Many people ask about Apple Watch sleep tracking in particular. The 2017 case series lists Apple Watch among the consumer wearables people use, but it did not test any brand for accuracy or for effects on worry. So we cannot say whether one device is better or worse for this. What seems to matter more is how you react to the number each morning. When a low score starts a loop of checking and worrying, it can look a lot like overthinking before sleep.
Sleepmaxxing: the perfect-sleep-routine trend
Sleepmaxxing is the TikTok trend of building an optimized sleep routine, often with gadgets and trackers. In March 2026, Hello! reported that the trend can bring a kind of performance anxiety about sleep. That is a magazine report, not a study. We found no published research that measured sleepmaxxing itself.
The pattern is easy to see, though. The more steps a routine has, the more ways to feel you got it wrong. If your routine feels like homework, that is worth noticing. Our post on what studies show about body scans for sleep covers one simple routine and its limits.
Sleep anxiety: what none of these studies tested
If checking your score has become a ritual you dread, the worry may be part of a wider pattern. Our guide to the best natural sleep aid for adults with anxiety looks at what has been studied for anxious sleepers, and our post on how to stop racing thoughts at night covers a mind that will not switch off. The studies above left several questions open:
Whether a sleep score causes anxiety, or anxious people check scores more.
Whether taking a break from tracking improves sleep.
How well the 2026 screening tool identifies orthosomnia.
Whether any tracker brand, including Apple Watch, changes the risk.
Your orthosomnia questions, answered
What does orthosomnia mean?
Orthosomnia describes worry about getting perfect sleep data that ends up disturbing sleep. The word was proposed in a 2017 case series of three people who focused on their tracker results. It is not an official diagnosis, and researchers are still working out how to measure it reliably.
How to get rid of orthosomnia?
No trial has tested a fix for orthosomnia itself. Options people discuss include checking your data less often, turning off score notifications or taking a break from tracking, but those are ideas, not proven treatments. If sleep worry persists, a clinician can help. Some people also try a screen with nothing to score at bedtime, such as Hypnagogia-Pass, which has not been tested in a clinical trial.
What is the 1/4 hour rule for insomnia?
It says that if you are awake for about 15 minutes, you get out of bed and return when you feel sleepy. It comes from stimulus control, which the American Academy of Sleep Medicine's 2021 guideline conditionally recommends for chronic insomnia. The 15-minute figure is a convention, not a validated cutoff.
Is sleepmaxxing bad?
We found no research that measured sleepmaxxing, so we cannot say it is harmful or helpful. A magazine report links it to performance anxiety about sleep. If your routine adds worry instead of calm, simplifying it is a reasonable step.
Do sleep trackers cause anxiety?
Not shown. The 2026 survey found that many trackers screened positive for orthosomnia risk, but a survey cannot show cause, because people who already worry about sleep may also be the ones who track it. Some people may feel calmer with their data and others more worried. If you are unsure which group you are in, notice how you feel after you check the number.
Know someone who's awake right now?
If you have a friend you have recently talked with about sleep trackers and sleep worry, or someone you think needs this information, send them this article. It brings them what the science says, in plain words. If they are awake right now, our can't sleep right now guide is a good place to start.
Share: Facebook · X · WhatsApp · LinkedIn · Email
If trouble sleeping lasts for weeks, or if racing thoughts come with other symptoms that worry you, please talk with a doctor. This article is general information, not medical advice, and Hypnagogia-Pass has not been tested in a clinical trial.
Orthosomnia: Can a Sleep Score Make You Anxious?
Do sleep scores cause sleep worry? A 2026 US survey found nearly a third of trackers screened positive for orthosomnia. See what that does and doesn't show.
