Is the Calm app worth it for someone with GAD?

I downloaded the Calm app a few years ago because I had a free trial, and I figured why now. I didn’t really stick with it or use it, to be honest. That was until Harry Styles narrated a sleep story. When his sleep story was released, I immediately signed up again because why wouldn’t I? It’s Harry Styles, and the thought of him telling me a story as I fell asleep sounded terrific.

I was still waking up in the middle of the night, though. I’ve been a bad sleeper for most of my life, never fully sleeping through the night. Waking up with my heart racing or the inability to fall back asleep, sometimes both. I’ve since been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), so a lot of my sleeping habits made a lot more sense.  

With the monthly cost of Calm and the fact that it wasn’t helping me fall asleep, I decided to cancel my subscription and delete the app.

Fast forward to a few years later, to the fall of 2023, my anxiety was off the charts, and I just couldn’t sleep. I woke up feeling panicked, and if I managed to fall back asleep, it took a few hours. It helped a bit, but I was still having trouble sleeping. I started changing my sleeping positions so it didn’t feel as bad, but I was still sleeping like shit.

My therapist had recommended breathing exercises, and for some reason, I was hesitant, but one night I just felt done. I wanted to fall asleep, but my heart was pounding in my chest, and I felt so stressed, so I re-downloaded the Calm app.

When I first used the app, I remembered they had breathing exercises, so I figured why not see if they had the breathing exercise my therapist recommended. Luckily, they did. It was, however, paywalled.

They had a free breathing exercise that they recommended you feel comfortable doing before the type of breathing my therapist recommended, so I did just that. I did it before bed, and if I woke up in the middle of the night with a rapid heartbeat. It helped a little bit, but after I felt comfortable, I decided to take the plunge and pay for the app’s premium version again to have access to the other breathing technique my therapist recommended.

I decided that with the new breathing technique, I would only do it before bed, so I started it. At first, it was strange because it was so different from the first breathing exercise I had done, so I was admittedly stressed as I was doing it. After a week of comfortably practicing the breathing technique, I was noticing that I was falling asleep faster. I wasn’t lying in bed for hours before I could fall asleep. I was starting to fall asleep within half-an-hour.

I believe it was week 3 when I started incorporating a sleep story into my routine. So now, before bed, I did the breathing technique and picked a sleep story. It takes some trial and error to see which story and voice works best for you. I put my phone under my pillow, and played the story at a low volume and it worked.

The combination of the breathing technique and the sleep story helped me, and for the first time in my life, I slept through the whole night and fell asleep relatively soon. It genuinely feels like a miracle because I’m not waking up as stressed or in the middle of the night with my heart pounding.

Like Duolingo, Calm tracks your progress and shows your streaks of how long you’ve continuously used the app consecutively. I was proud of my streak because aside from the app’s benefits, it excited me that I had a visual representation of this nightly routine and the progress I’ve made.

I missed a few nights of my routine, and the distinction between sleeping using the breathing and sleep story versus not using it was dramatic. I was waking up with my heart pounding. It would take me a while to fall asleep. I felt like an absolute mess. So, when I used the app again and got back into my routine, I slept better and felt calm, no pun intended.

Everyone is different in every way, especially in how their GAD presents and the tools that work for them. Some recommended techniques didn’t work for me, so it’s a series of trial and error. However, speaking for myself and my GAD at night, Calm changed my life. I would 100% recommend it. While some of the sleep stories are exclusive to the paid plan, you can do the breathing technique without the app.

The breathing technique on the app is called Unwind and is 4-7-8 breathing. Which is 4 seconds of inhaling, holding that breath for 7 seconds, and exhaling for 8 seconds. There are videos on YouTube that, like the Calm app, help you visualize it, so if you don’t want to download the app, you can still get the same effect.

I’d also like to advise that I would check with your health provider/therapist to make sure it’s safe for you to do the breathing because I know with a variety of conditions, it may not be the best option depending on where you’re at with your health, so make sure before you do any breathing exercise that it’s safe!

That’s not to scare anyone, but it’s always better to be safe, especially with anything that can be triggered with breathing exercises!  

I know I already said this, but I honestly would recommend the app. There are free sleep stories, and much of the content is paywalled, but it wouldn’t hurt to download it to look around and see if any of the content that’s free would be helpful!

I’d like to clarify this again, but this is what has been helping me with my GAD recently! Not everyone has the same experiences and symptoms.

I hope this helped you if you were debating downloading or even paying for the app, and I wish everyone the best in your mindful and mental health journey!

Also, if you’re wondering what sleep story I listen to, it’s The Shipping Forecast, narrated by Peter Jefferson. He has a fantastic voice.