MENTAL HEALTH APPS/WEBSITES

While APPS/WEBSITES are not a replacement for in-person help, for people suffering, they can provide resources right in the palm of their hands. Some resources are free, some are free with in-app purchases, and others have either a one-time fee or a subscription fee.

ANXIETY

When you search for “anxiety apps”, it results in a variety of approaches including mindfulness, gratitude, stress relief, journaling, yoga, and self-hypnosis. When deciding on the best tactic consider the cause of your anxiety. Anxiety apps are similar to self-help books: The message might be similar, but it should be tailored to your situation.

Calm offers meditation help and designed to lower stress and anxiety and improve sleep. In addition to meditation exercises, the app includes sleep stories, breathing exercises along with soothing music and photos of nature.
Headspace focuses on guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep and aims to reduce stress and anxiety with courses on meditation, workouts, and sleep improvement.
Daylio is a tracking app that helps users log moods, exercise, meals, activities and can function as a journal. Charts and stats can be reviewed for patterns or reflection. In terms of privacy, user data is stored locally, and data is not collected by the app’s creator.
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 behavior 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.

DEPRESSION

Mood-tracking apps can be helpful to manage depression and are a handy replacement for the pen-and-paper method of tracking behaviors, moods, and patterns on worksheets. Apps not only make the process come easier, but they can give reminders to log moods and track trends over time, so those can be very helpful when you need to describe what your days look like.

Mood Tools is a mood-tracking app that focuses on alleviating depression symptoms. Reviewers liked the app’s features such as the Thought Diary, activity and video suggestions, PH-9 questionnaire, and suicide safety plan.
Happify -Need a happy fix? With its psychologist-approved mood-training program, the Happify app is your fast-track to a good mood. Try various engaging games, activity suggestions, gratitude prompts and more to train your brain as if it were a muscle, to overcome negative thoughts. The best part? Its free!

SUICIDE PREVENTION

While an app alone cannot save lives, it can be a good resource to go along with counseling and mental health lifelines, like the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 988, and Trevor Lifeline 866-488-7386.

“A Friend Asks” is a FREE smartphone app that helps provide the information, tools, and resources to help a friend (or yourself) who may be struggling with thoughts of suicide. Download the app today and encourage friends and family to do the same. Education is the key to prevention and with information like this as close as your smartphone; you could help save a life!

The “A Friend Asks” App contains the following information:

warning signs of suicidal ideation
how to help a friend
how to get help now
what to do and what not to do
the B1 Program

If in an immediate crisis, call 911. If you or a friend needs to talk with a counselor for help or need resources available in your area, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (anytime 24/7 at 988) or use the Get Help Now button on the app. The app also contains a Spanish translation that can be toggled after launching.