In 2016 staffers at Calm noticed a spike in usage at night and realized their subscribers were using the app to wind down at bedtime. And sleep stories were born.

Most survey respondents (78%) said that lack of sleep is negatively affecting their mental health. Getty Images/iStockphoto Nearly 75% of them are open to trying new strategies to get better sleep.

Research has shown that focusing on and envisioning pleasant images while you lay in bed can bring the calm necessary for sleep. There are apps that can help you with this.

In partnership with American Express AXP +1.1%, the mental fitness app, Calm, teamed up with Pippen to create “The History of a Dream” Sleep Story.

Spotify is also hosting Calm for Kids, so you can see if your child will focus on a meditation tailored to their age group. It also has a few Sleep Stories for kids narrated by the likes of ...

Medtitation app Calm just received new funding, so the Calm Sleep Stories library could soon include more celebs reading bedtime tales—here's our wish list. Photo: Getty Images/David Prado ...

The 45-minute Calm story, "It's a Wonderful Sleep Story," has Jimmy Stewart narrating a tale about a downtrodden technology entrepreneur, Stanley J. Montgomery -- not unlike George Bailey, the ...

A majority – 57% – now say they could use more sleep, which is a big jump from a decade ago. It's an acceleration of an ongoing trend, according to the survey. In 1942, 59% of Americans said ...