Mental Health Tip of the Week

Mental Health? Yes, There’s an App for That

By: Domenica Favero Psy.D.

It seems there are apps for everything these days. There are apps to manage your money, to make lists, to talk to friends, and to track calories. There are even apps that could help with your mental health. This is an area of software development that has been on the rise for years and there are now several apps that could be a great adjunct to therapy and may even be beneficial in and of themselves.

Other apps are more focused on specific types of therapies, particularly Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. These apps can help you record your thoughts and feelings and even determine what kind of dysfunctional thoughts you are having. The Veterans Administration pioneered some of this approach by developing apps to reach more veterans who were waiting for care or in-between visits. Some newer research confirms that these CBT apps can be beneficial when used in addition to face-to-face CBT for insomnia (Koffel et al., 2018), while other research found that using CBT apps may be beneficial for overall well-being (Bakker, Kazantzis, Rickwood, & Rickard, 2018).

Finally, there are even apps to help you connect with a therapist to provide you with direct one-on-one psychotherapy. Some of these apps connect you with a therapist to chat via phone, text or email, while others connect you through videoconferencing. It really depends on the app and service you use, and some insurance companies are beginning to partner with these services to provide more affordable care

It is important to note that none of these apps should be used as a replacement for face-to-face intervention, especially when someone is in crisis. It does appear, however, that some mental health apps may be helpful for people with mild anxiety or depression or those who feel they need assistance in coping. They also appear to be beneficial when used in addition to therapy or medicine and both therapists and clients report benefit from using them (Stawarz, Preist, Tallon, Wiles, & Coyle, 2018).

Here is a list of the top 10 mental health apps most commonly used

1.      Calm free from the App Store

2.     Headspace free from the App Store

3.     Moodnotes $3.99

4.     Moodpath free from the App Store

5.     Pacifica free from the App Store

6.     SuperBetter free from the App Store

7.     7 Cups free from the App Store

8.     Anxiety Relief Hypnosis free from the App Store

9.     Happify free from the App Store

10.  Talkspace free from the App Store