Health Software Review

Top 15 Apps For Mental Health Management

Mental Health Management

March 8th, 2019   |   Updated on April 13th, 2021

In today’s times’ stress levels and excessive workload has caused a change in the way people handle things. This eventually has led to a rise in ailments of all kinds some of them associated with mental imbalances too. Unfortunately, it is very tough to find out if you are suffering from any mental health issues.

This is because there is a certain level of stigma associated with such matters and people do not want to discuss their symptoms with others. To help such people there are a couple of mobile apps which act as the perfect mode to vent out any pent up feelings.

We bring to you a list of top apps for mental health and with their appropriate guidance, you can come out of this problem before you even realize. Most of these apps have a dedicated team of doctors and advisors behind them and when you start using them it becomes quite easy to find solutions for your problems.

 

1. LetsTalk

LetsTalk
The purpose of the alliance for youth app is to provide youth with an easy to use, and understand resource for things pertaining to mental health and suicide prevention. Whether the user be the at risk person, or a friend or family member, through a custom app we can make sure the information they receive is accurate, pertinent, and provide addition resources such as safe spaces for those who might be in a vulnerable state.

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Review: lifewire

What We Like

The Alliance for Youth and Speaking Socially teamed up with a group of teens from Montana who have dealt personally with suicide or suicidal thoughts to create this app.

What We Don’t Like

Nothing so far, however, the app was launched in late 2017. As word gets out about the app and it gains additional users, there will likely be more information on any bugs or issues with the app.

What We Like

  • Helpful videos.
  • Provides immediate access to help.
  • Long list of resources.

What We Don’t Like

  • Videos open YouTube app.
  • Limited local events.
  • Very small user base.

 

2. iMoodJournal

iMoodJournal

This beautiful app is an ultimate mood journal, personal diary and charting tool. It will help you discover causes of your ups and downs, and get surprising insights into yourself!

Featured on NY Times, NY Daily News, made “The Best Bipolar Disorder iPhone and Android Apps of the Year” by Healthline, voted “Top 10 apps for health and wellness” by Rewire Me and “One of 9 Funniest Android Apps of 2015 to keep you in good mood” by TechGYD, recommended by expert on Psychcentral.com and many other specialists.

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Review: PlayStore

A great app that’s super helpful. However, I do wish clicking a previously used hashtag would work to fill it in so you can move to the next one. Currently, if I try to do this it autofills but as soon as I start typing it removes the previous auto-filled text.

 

3. MindShift

MindShift

Is anxiety getting in the way of your life? MindShift uses scientifically proven strategies based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help you learn to relax and be mindful, develop more effective ways of thinking, and use active steps to take charge of your anxiety.

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Review: iTunes

I can’t say enough how awesome and helpful this app is…I recommend this to anyone who has anxiety or panic attacks. Easy to use and so many great tools. Thank you so much to the person or people who created this!

 

4. Calm

Calm

Calm is the leading app for meditation and sleep. Join the millions experiencing lower stress, less anxiety, and more restful sleep with our guided meditations, Sleep Stories, breathing programs, masterclasses, and relaxing music. Recommended by top psychologists, therapists, and mental health experts.

Calm is the perfect mindfulness app for beginners, but also includes hundreds of programs for intermediate and advanced users.

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Review: PlayStore

Wonderful for beginners! There’s free content for those looking to get into meditation, like me. And, of course, there’s plenty of amazing content, I’m sure after you’ve subscribed. The audio for the beginning few sessions is nice, gives good tips for sitting, holding yourself properly and gives breathing technique help to help my mind not to wander. I’m getting better already. Only had it a week, already I’m hooked. it’s amazing how a little Calm in my every day seems helpful!

 

5. Breathe2Relax

 Breathe2Relax

Breathe2Relax is a portable stress management tool which provides detailed information on the effects of stress on the body and instructions and practice exercises to help users learn the stress management skill called diaphragmatic breathing.

Breathing exercises have been documented to decrease the body’s ‘fight-or-flight’ (stress) response, and help with mood stabilization, anger control, and anxiety management. Breathe2Relax can be used as a stand-alone stress reduction tool, or can be used in tandem with clinical care directed by a healthcare worker.

Breathe2Relax now uses HealthKit and your Apple Watch device to measure your heart rate throughout your breathing exercise to help provide an even more complete picture of the relaxation experienced.

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Review: Telehealth.org

This app is a stress management tool, which will help you learn how to perform and use diaphragmatic breathing techniques for stress control. It also provides you with education about the biology of stress, the effects of stress on the body, how to do diaphragmatic breathing, and the biology of breathing. Using this app can be helpful to your meditation practice as well. Even though this app was developed by the Department of Defense (DoD) and T2, it is not restricted to use by military or veterans.

 

6. Headspace

Headspace

Headspace is your guide to health and happiness. It’s a simple way to let go of stress and get a better night’s rest. Learn to relax with guided meditations and mindfulness techniques that bring calm, wellness and balance to your life in just a few minutes a day. Plus, Sleep by Headspace helps you create the ideal conditions for a good night’s rest.

Get more from your day through mindfulness, be less distracted and reactive, and focus on the things that matter most to you. The Basics course is completely free and will teach you the fundamental techniques of meditation and mindfulness. After that, by subscription, gain access to the full Headspace meditation library.

Train your mind with guided meditations on everything from managing stress and anxiety, to getting a better night’s rest, to relationships. Bring more awareness to daily activities through on-the-go exercises, and use SOS sessions to skillfully manage moments of panic or anxiety.

And at night, the sleep experience (which includes sleep sounds and meditations) can help you get the rest you deserve. The Headspace animation library is full of tips and helpful wisdom to keep your practice on track, and you can even add friends to keep each other motivated.

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Review: iTunes

I usually wake up with a lot of anxiety—sometimes it’s about something in particular, and sometimes it feels like it’s happening for no reason at all. When I started headspace I was going through a really tough time, was waking up later and later just so my days would be shorter, and was overall just trudging through my days in a way that felt awful. I was looking for a way to start my day on a more motivated foot than my mind seemed to want me to.

 

7. PTSD Coach

PTSD Coach

PTSD Coach was designed for those who have, or may have, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This app provides you with education about PTSD, information about professional care, a self-assessment for PTSD, opportunities to find support, and tools that can help you manage the stresses of daily life with PTSD.

Tools range from relaxation skills and positive self-talk to anger management and other common self-help strategies. You can customize tools based on your preferences and can integrate your own contacts, photos, and music. This app can be used by people who are in treatment as well as those who are not.

PTSD Coach was created by VA’s National Center for PTSD and DoD’s National Center for Telehealth & Technology.

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Review: iTunes

Of all of the apps, I have seen and attempted to use this has been the best BY FAR! For free it offers awesome mindfulness and breathing exercises. Alternates between soothing pictures, sounds, ideas based on what’s tearing you apart at the moment.

Every single day of my existence is a struggle to make it through. I was reaching a point in my day where there was more time in a panic And terror and rottenness then not. This application has significantly helped me in the heat of these moments.

It has helped my ability to deal with the panic attacks and steer me from feeling completely lost to there is a light in the far off distance. If you don’t know what to do, You don’t have anywhere to go, try this app. It’s seriously helping me.

 

8. Happify

Happify

Happify’s science-based activities and games can help reduce stress, overcome negative thoughts, and build greater resilience by providing effective tools and programs to improve emotional well-being.

Our techniques are developed by leading scientists and experts who’ve been studying evidence-based interventions in the fields of positive psychology, mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy for decades.

86% of people who use Happify regularly report feeling better about their lives in 2 months!

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Review: PlayStore

I love this! It’s been so helpful with my anxiety. The only problem that I have is that I can no longer check the recommended suggestions in Instant Play. Every time I try it freezes and crashes the app. Please fix this! The recommended suggestions are one of my favorite features.

 

9. Pacifica

Pacifica Helps With Anxiety

Stress, anxiety, and depression can get in the way of you living your life. Pacifica gives you psychologist-designed tools to address them based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, mindfulness meditation, relaxation, and mood/health tracking.

Stress, anxiety, and depression are caused by an ongoing cycle of negative thoughts. Thoughts cause physical feelings and emotions which cause actions. Pacifica helps break this cycle using tools that target each of its components. Day-by-day, you’ll learn to manage stress, anxiety and depression at your own pace. We’re not about quick-fixes or false promises. We are about real progress, a day at a time.

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Review: common sense media

Parents need to know that Pacifica for Stress & Anxiety includes tools, activities, reflections, and groups to help users decrease anxiety and increase happiness. Through tools and techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and more, users can learn to manage feelings, handle stress, and reach out for help. There is a mental health professional on the development team and several more on the advisory board.

Notifications give users daily reminders to check in with their feelings and record their mood on their app. If they’re struggling with something, there are myriad options for self-help and community support. Many features on the app, such as the mood tracker, are free. Other features (including most guided meditations) require the premium subscription.

There’s also a paid option to work with a mental health professional: Users can connect with their own therapist (if they use the app) or find a licensed professional (identities and licenses are verified). Optional community groups connect users for support: All communication is text-based and user-moderated.

 

10. MoodMission

 MoodMission

Tell MoodMission how you’re feeling and it will give you a tailored list of 5 Missions that can help you feel better. Missions are activities and mental health strategies that are quick, easily achievable, and backed up by scientific evidence.

MoodMission is based in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which is an evidence-based psychological therapy for anxiety and depression. Anyone can use MoodMission, whether you just want a lift in your day or need a bit more help recovering from anxiety or depression.

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Review: PlayStore

I really liked this app, it is a wonderful way for finding new coping mechanisms. One thing though, my stats do not seem to be updating correctly. It says I have completed 21 missions but on the stats, it has only recorded four. It would be great if there was a way that users could see the comparisons of the quizzes over time or targeted areas of improvement based on the data.

 

11. Twenty-Four Hours A Day

 Twenty-Four Hours A Day

Find inspiration anywhere, at any time, with Hazelden Publishing’s Twenty-Four Hours a Day app featuring all 366 daily meditations from the classic best-selling meditation book for people in recovery from addiction.

At the touch of a fingertip, Twenty-Four Hours a Day becomes your companion, making it easy to focus on your sobriety wherever you are. Practising the Twelve Steps has never been more accessible.

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Review: iTunes

I would encourage anyone to explore other apps. The reflections seem highly subjective. I am tolerant and accepting of others beliefs, but to scorn actual modern theory and scientific knowledge is troublesome. Especially when most of us are trying to live a more truthful life. And struggle with a concept of a power greater than ourselves. Below is an actual “reflection” from the daily reflections:

“Some people find it hard to believe in a Power greater than themselves. But not to believe in such a Power forces us to atheism. It has been said that atheism is blind faith in the strange proposition that this universe originated in a cypher and aimlessly rushes nowhere. That’s practically impossible to believe.”

 

12. Mind Shift

Mind Shift is one of the best mental health apps designed specifically for teens and young adults with anxiety. Rather than trying to avoid anxious feelings, Mind Shift stresses the importance of changing how you think about anxiety.

Think of this app as the cheerleader in your pocket, encouraging you to take charge of your life, ride out intense emotions, and face challenging situations.

Download For iPhone  | Download For Android

Review: goodreads

Mindshift reveals how we can overcome stereotypes and preconceived ideas about what is possible for us to learn and become—regardless of age.

In an age when we are constantly being asked to retrain and reinvent ourselves, to adapt to new technologies and changing industries, this book assuages our fears and inspires us with a sense of possibility. Our passions and talents may actually surprise us.

In Mindshift, Barbara Oakley tells the stories of people who have overcome learning “handicaps” of all kinds—such as Imposter’s Syndrome and advancing age—and shows how we can turn perceived weaknesses into strengths.

 

13. Self-Help For Anxiety Management

SAM might be perfect for you if you’re interested in self-help, but meditation isn’t your thing. Users are prompted to build their own 24-hour anxiety toolkit that allows you to track anxious thoughts and behaviour over time, and learn 25 different self-help techniques.

You can also use SAM’s “Social Cloud” feature to confidentially connect with other users in an online community for additional support.

Download For iPhone  | Download For Android

Review: PlayStore

Nice app and very helpful, But chat cloud needs an option added to notify us when a user responds to our posts and also a private PM section for those who wish to contact each other, Please can this be added asap it would be most helpful.

 

14. Talkspace Online Therapy

Talkspace is the most convenient and affordable way to improve your mental health. Get matched with a licensed therapist in your state from the comfort of your device, and message via text, audio, and video.

Our subscription service provides high-quality mental health care to anyone ages 13 and up, and has already been used by over 1 million people. See what they have to say at love.talkspace.com.

Download For iPhone  | Download For Android

Review: PlayStore

I could write two pages on how bad this service is. From the $49 a week claim, that is actually $200 per month, to the “text your therapist anywhere, anytime”, which is actually MAYBE two emails a day. You read that right. $200 per month minimum for hopefully two emails per day. You don’t have live access to your therapist at any time and if you’re like me and tend to be on the more severe side of mental illness then this app will be useless to you.

To sum it all up what they do is cram as many patients into as big a group as possible so a “therapist” can invest the least amount of work to extract the greatest amount of profit. Now not to say that they don’t give the minimum amount of effort in addressing your problems because they do and some genuinely care about helping you. But the fact remains two emails a day does very little to aid any scenario.

 

15. MoodTools

If you are feeling sad, anxious, or depressed, lift your mood with MoodTools! MoodTools is designed to help you combat depression and alleviate your negative moods, aiding you on your road to recovery.

Download For iPhone  | Download For Android

Review: iTunes

Compared to most free self-help apps, this one is pretty good. It’s angled toward depression, which means it’s got a great array of resources and guides to help you cope with that specifically. But if the app were to expand its services to other disorders such as anxiety, eating disorders, and so on, I think it would help a great deal more!

Another suggestion I have, is the ability to customize the individual activities they provide for you. I’m aware there is a ‘Custom’ option, but for example, adding a list to the Chores activity, which you are then free to edit and mark off as you complete the tasks one by one, would make things a lot simpler and easier. Having the different options all in one place makes for easy customization (which I believe is very important to the individual).

Overall, hope to see more from this app! But as it is now, it’s a certainly welcome little tool, that I will be sure to use in times of distress and emotional management.