Smartphones and wearable gadgets have long helped us to keep an eye on our health. But we don’t have to limit ourselves using them only for counting steps or monitoring heart rate. According to experts, more than 350 million people on the planet suffer from depressive disorder alone.
It is very convenient to track your psychological state just using just your phone. Mobile devices follow us from the first minutes of waking up to the last seconds before bed. And they may help us a lot more than they already do. There are websites like custom-essaywriting.org that help us to study. And there are services that may help us to feel better.
Doctors Believe In Mental Health Apps
Psychologists and psychotherapists tell us to take advantage of new technologies. Of course, apps are not enough to replace qualified help from a specialist. But they are able to help you control your condition and predict the moment when it is time to see a doctor.
John Torous – editor of Psychiatric Times – says that the positive impact of mental health apps is visible. Although he believes that apps cannot replace specialists, they can enhance patient care. It would be correct to treat them as new medical tools. For example, a stethoscope is a tool that allows doctors to gain new information about a patient’s health. An app is a tool that helps to record symptoms and information about the condition. Then it can provide this data to a specialist so that he, after analysis, selects a treatment.
Why Best Mental Health Apps Help
Mind therapy apps really may help us cope with the unpleasant symptoms of common mental ailments.
They provide you different useful tools for improving your mental health:
- mood tracking
- meditation lifehacks
- scientific information about the reasons for your bad mood
- in-app support chats
- anonymous help.
Plus, not only apps are useful for your mental health. Technologies help us in ways that were unimaginable before.
Top 5 Mental Health Apps
1. Calm
The name speaks for itself: this app will help you relax even on the most nervous day. People suffering from anxiety often try meditation. And it is especially convenient to do this with a smartphone. Even the title Calm instantly helps you relax.
The app itself offers dozens of meditations, ambient music tracks, and nature sounds. Basically, everything to take a rewarding break during the day and fall asleep in the evening. All basic meditations are available for free, and those who want more will need to buy a subscription for a month or a year.
2. Wysa
This is a psychotherapist bot that talks to you. Also, it offers exercises aimed at recognizing emotions, increasing productivity and self-confidence. Plus, this app offers therapy sessions with real English-speaking specialists. They cost around 20 dollars.
The app also has tools to deal with anxiety and loneliness in isolation. They are absolutely free because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Users note that WYSA helps at night best of all. The night is one of these moments when psychological crises occur and there is simply no one to turn to for help.
3. 7Cups
With the help of this app, a depressed person can contact a professional psychologist or a person who is ready to listen.
First, the user selects from the list the problem that causes discomfort. For example, anxiety, depression, insomnia, or something else.
The next step is to choose with whom to communicate: with a lay listener or with a therapist. The system is looking for someone who could listen to the user. The search usually takes a few minutes. The communication itself takes place in the chat. Also, other services are available at 7Cups. For example, helpful videos for dealing with anxiety and depression or a feed of positive thoughts. And audio lessons with breathing techniques. The user can not only accept help but also listen to someone who needs support at a difficult moment.
4. How Are You
“More than 80% of people with depression symptoms are not getting the proper treatment,” says the banner on the How Are You website. This is one of the main reasons all mental health apps exist. The app consists of honest interaction with your phone, as well as visual statistics. It helps to realize whether a person really needs help, and also to decide to go to a specialist. How Are You not only asks its owner how he is doing. It also thoroughly monitors all the information provided.
This mind therapy app helps to improve your mood day after day and your standard of living. With the help of regular tests, tips, and visual analysis – for example, which part of the day is the most joyful for you.
5. Mindshift
One of the therapy apps for free. It helps users who often experience anxiety. Here you can find information about the sources and symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks.
Then you can perform a series of exercises based on cognitive-behavioral therapy. The app also creates individual plans for overcoming common situations that provoke anxiety. In particular, the app helps to develop new habits. For example, to stop constantly looking at the phone or to start exercising every morning.
