Mental health apps that help with anxiety, depression, and other illnesses, have become essential tools in the modern world and have risen in popularity during the pandemic. These apps feature all the necessary resources and tools to provide cost-effective and immediate support for patients needing help. Help for anxiety and depression can be given via direct intervention through volunteers or active listeners; patients can be connected with psychologists to get diagnosis and treatment. Online communities can facilitate post-treatment support and the use of journaling, meditation, mindfulness, and daily logging and tracking moods.
This article will discuss the best apps for anxiety and depression and give a comprehensive, detailed description of each app.
The Best Apps for Anxiety and Depression
Patients struggling with anxiety, depression, or experiencing symptoms linked to mental health illnesses may not know the resources that they are able to access or where they can seek help. Telehealth apps are not restricted to adults but also cater to young people and children. There are some great resources found in CBT apps for child anxiety to teach coping skills and encourage the development of thinking. Below are some of the best apps in the market.
Mindshift
Mindshift is one of the best CBT apps for child anxiety. It uses scientifically proven strategies based on CBT to help the patient develop more effective ways of thinking and get on top of their anxiety. Mindshift provides the resources for young people/children to respond to their anxiety by evaluating their level of anxiety in specific situations or environments, improving their knowledge of their anxiety and its symptoms.
The app has essential tools to help improve patient sleep quality, how to handle everyday conflict, and how to deal with perfectionism. The goal of the Mindshift app is to help children identify, practice, and learn anxiety coping skills. Mindshift is available for free on both Android and IOS systems.
MoodTools And FearTools
FearTools is an app that provides patients expiring anxiety with support through a workbook face. For patients experiencing clinical depression, MoodTools aims to provide support by aiding their path to recovery.
Both apps have a library of helpful videos to improve behavior and mood. Using cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) principles, MoodTools provides the resources to quickly analyze and log thoughts, with the option of developing a suicide safety plan (warning signs, contacts, reasons to live, and places for distraction).
The resources that these apps provide allow patients to track their thought patterns with the goal of reframing negative thoughts. Both MindTools and FearTools can connect the patient to the nearest emergency department or a helpline if needed. MoodTools is available for free download for both Android and IOS.
7 CUPS
7 CUPS app uses volunteer, active, and trained listeners to provide free, confidential, and anonymous 24/7 support to patients needing help coping with long-term mental health issues and acute stressors ad triggers. This app has an extensive library (approximately 300) of free exercises and videos and facilitates community forums and chat rooms.
Depending on their needs, patients have access to over 160 000 trained licensed therapists and active listeners grouped by the topics they specialize in, such as anxiety, depression, and anxiety and depression. Patients can request the same listener or therapist each time or request different active listeners and therapists.
7 CUPS app is available for free download on Android and IOS systems, with it being free to speak to active listeners. Patients need to pay to talk with licensed psychologists and professionals, with unlimited access to them included in the fee.
Self-Help for Anxiety Management (SAM)
Self-Help for Anxiety Management (SAM) is an app for patients needing help when they experience anxiety symptoms. This app provides patients with tools such as educational articles, relaxation techniques, symptoms tracker, coping skills, and practice tools other than meditation for anxiety management. Patients are able to create a personalized 24-hour anxiety toolkit that allows them to track behavior and thoughts over a period of time.
SAM app is free for download on IOS and Android systems and has a “Social Cloud” feature that confidentially connects users for additional support.
BoosterBuddy
BoosterBuddy is a new way for young people to have access to pediatric psychiatric services to improve their resilience. The BoosterBuddy app is a resource that allows young patients to track their moods, receive encouragement to go to appointments, learn coping mechanisms, and take their prescription medication.
The app provides quests to be completed to receive coins, encouraging and rewarding completion of tasks such as logging moods, increasing sleep, decreasing overeating, oversleeping, drug use, anxiety, manic episodes, voices, delusions, or alcohol abuse. BooosterBuddy is free from download on Android and IOS systems.
Sanvello
Sanvello is a mental telehealth app that provides on-demand help for patients experiencing stress, depression, and anxiety. Sanvello uses CBT principles and mindfulness meditation to help patients with depression, anxiety, and stress. This app provides a wide variety of tools such as guided meditations, journaling prompts, goal tracking, coaching, therapy, mood tracking, community support, and exercises to manage symptoms.
Sanvello also uses self-learning modules (Guided journeys) designed by psychologists, making use of mindfulness and principles of CBT to help patients change thoughts to build more confidence, take control of negative thoughts and emotions, and learn how to stay present at the moment. This app has a community of users that are able to share their thoughts in a judgment-free zone.
Sanvello is free to download on Android, IOS systems, and websites; however, this full-service app requires payment for plans, one-on-one coaching, and therapy appointments. Some healthcare insurance plans will cover the monthly subscription costs and therapy sessions.
Conclusion
While these apps are not a replacement for clinical treatment and diagnosis, they can play a vital role in identifying anxiety and depression symptoms, triggers, and stressors and provide patients with tools to learn coping skills. Whether you are looking for full-service apps for anxiety and depression or a simple anxiety tracker app, multiple options provide help and support to manage, treat, and reduce anxiety and depression.
