Therapy in Your Pocket: Mental Health Apps – Part 3/3

The final five apps to review, have a look. Therapy in your pocket.

1. Breathe2Relax– Designed to reduce stress and anxiety, this management program teaches breathing exercises. It also helps with controlling anger and stabilizing mood. The developers believe that the app can be beneficial as a standalone practice, or in combination with other therapies.
2. Optimism– This self-tracking tool is useful for those dealing with: PTSD, anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. Users create their own customizable plan for wellness where they can chart the coping mechanisms they employ in daily life. That process can help detect mood patterns and identify triggers.
3. SAM (Self-help for Anxiety Management)– Users are given the ability to note their triggers and record their anxiety levels. There are 25 options for self-help included in the program. These suggestions will provide ways for users to better cope with their anxiety. And, there is a social cloud attached to the app that will allow users to share their experiences anonymously.
4. IntelliCare– Funded by the National Institutes of Health, this collection of apps includes the IntelliCare Hub and 12 other mini apps. It is designed to target symptoms of anxiety and depression. The mini apps include things like iCope (inspirational tidbits), Worry Knot (techniques to relieve worry), and Thought Challenger (reduction of negativity in thought processes).
5. MoodTune- Developed by mental health experts, this is more akin to a game than the previously described options. It is a training tool that uses task-based tricks to assist in the management of anxiety and depression. It took ten years of research to develop this app and its ability to provide tools for tracking and managing mental health maladies.

Your mental health is a serious contributor to your daily success. If you feel that you might benefit from additional tools and coping mechanisms, we are certain that one of these mental health apps will work well for you. Talk with your therapist to see if there is one he/she recommends. Otherwise, feel free to utilize these bits of therapy in your pocket. If you find one that you like please share with us.