10 Apps That Help You Manage Mental Illness
Sometimes we need extra help managing our mental health, but unfortunately for a variety of reasons, therapy is not always a viable option. For many people, using apps that help you manage your mental health and take control of a mental illness so you can get to a better place in your life is a perfectly reasonable route. If you’re unsure of which apps to use though, and you’ve never tried this alternative to therapy, in this article we’ll list 10 different apps that might make day-to-day life a little easier.
1. Calm Harm
Calm Harm is an app that helps users resist the urge to self harm by providing activities to either distract, provide comfort, provide a sense of release or expression. The distraction option (which I’ve used extensively during bouts of anxiety), helps to take your mind of the triggering problem so you can learn better self-control. The comfort option teaches you care alternatives to harming as does the release activities, and the self-expression option helps you to get out your feelings in a more constructive way.
2. Headspace
Headspace is an app that is designed to help users with mediation and sleep so they have a more balanced sense of mindfulness a rest in their lives. The tools within Headspace are meant to help people progress towards a healthier and happier state of mind, thus improving other aspects of their lives such as relationships with others. Headspace also helps to reduce everyday stress, and improve focus in users.
3. Calm
Another app that is designed to help reduce anxiety in people, it makes use of exercises such as mediation and breathing. Calm not only helps with anxiety but helps people to sleep better through their many calming activities. Because we experience stress in our day-to-day lives, which can often trigger anxiety Calm tries to combat these stressors and anxiety to help us have a more peaceful state of mind, thus improving our sleep patterns at night.
4. Moodpath
Moodpath is designed to assess our personal behaviors and feelings by asking a series questions. These assessments are geared toward helping its users seek professional help in the form of therapy, by opening the door for that dialogue. However, even if the user is choosing not to seek professional help there are still a ton of exercise and activities within the app that can be used to help manage feelings and behaviors.
5. Pacifica
This app is geared towards helping relieve symptoms of stress and anxiety. Pacifica provides tools such as audio lessons and activities like meditation, mood tracking and relaxation that helps its users tackle their feelings of anxiety one day at a time to come to a better place of managing their anxiety longterm.
6. 7 Cups
7 Cups actually provides online support and therapy to individuals who are feeling especially lonely, depressed, isolated, or anxious. It’s basically free in-app therapy because 7 Cups hosts thousands of licensed therapists and actually trained listeners to talk you through a rough time, free of judgement. 7 Cups also provides therapists that specialize in certain areas like panic attacks, eating disorders, and bullying, so the user can search for a listener based on their experiences.
7. Talkspace
The only app on this list that requires a payment plan (the app is free, but the counseling services must be paid), however through Talkspace you are provide with thousands of licensed therapists that are far cheaper than going the traditional route. You even have more therapists who are trained in a wider array of issues such as phobias, depression, domestic-violence and PTSD.
8. Youper
Youper truly relies on modern technology that becomes customized to the individual user. Its setup o that the user has open dialogue with an assistant who prompts you with questions and encourages you reflect about your thought patterns and behaviors. Based on the things you say in these chat, the app will then provide you with guided techniques that are helpful to relieving your negative feelings and thoughts, in that particular moment. It also keeps track of these conversations, providing you with results to help you keep track of your feelings and behavior.
9. Happify
Happify is designed to help individuals gain control of their feelings, especially when they’re experiencing negative thoughts and stress. Happify employs games that use positive psychology, and mindfulness to help you train your brain to think healthier, happier thoughts, and focus less on the negative ones. It’s about taking back control of your feelings and your mind, instead of letting your stress, anxiety or depression call the shots.
10. SuperBetter
SuperBetter is a game-based app that is driven to help its users think and feel more optimistic so they can improve their lives in various fields, whether it’s to complete long term goals or improve relationships, SuperBetter will have you feeling motivated to accomplish tasks and with a renewed, positive outlook.
