Are Mental Health Apps Effective?
Mental health apps can be a very beneficial addition to your mental health wellbeing care, especially when used in conjunction with therapy.
The Benefits of Mental Health Apps
There are three main benefits to using mental health apps, all which are particularly beneficial to rural clients (or those with minimal mental health services close by), clients of waitlists for mental health services and teenagers that may be difficult to engage in face to face servicing.
These benefits include:
Portability: The resources can be taken with you, from work, to home, to school.
Immediacy: You can access resources at any time of the day or night.
Accessibility: Simple to use, and available for anyone with a smart phone or tablet.
Other benefits include:
They can be utilised as a tool in therapy, for tracking mood, sleep, progress etc, and for the clinician to upload and track resources for their clients.
They can be a gentle first step to mental health care for those that are avoiding it.
The Cons of Mental Health Apps
Effectiveness: Most apps have minimal or no scientific evidence that they work.
Privacy: Some of the apps deal with very sensitive information, so when selecting an app you need to consider the level of security and data storage processes.
Regulation: Health data apps are currently unregulated, and there is no agreement as to if they should be regulated and whom should be responsible for regulation and the data being generated.
Best Research Informed Apps for Mental Health 2022
Not all apps are created equal, and the majority of them that are developed have no evidence towards their efficacy. The following nine apps do have some research that backs up their efficacy and were recently endorsed by Psychcentral.com:
Moodfit: This app combines a CBT mood and thought tracking diary with mindfulness meditations, breathing exercises and gratitude journals. It is a one size fits all approach and is customizable to your individual needs. There is a weekly subscription fee.
Headspace: This app focuses solely on mindfulness and meditation and can be great for first time meditators, or those more experienced. Some parts are free, or you can pay a monthly subscription for more content.
iBreathe: This app teaches you how to breathe effectively to manage stress. It offers reminder throughout the day to stop and notice your breath and make adjustments.
Mindshift: This app was developed to target anxiety specifically. It uses tools based on Cognitive behavioural therapy with peer to peer support built in.
CBT-i: This app targets sleep difficulties and insomnia. Originally developed to treat veterans with PTSD, it has a special weekly program that utilises CBT-I and is free.
Happify: A fun and interactive app, it utilises games and activities designed by health professionals to boost your mood. Subscription fee included.
Bearable: Great for tracking symptoms and understanding your behaviour and patterns. Can be shared with your healthcare professionals. Free for basic subscription.
Some Other Popular Mental Health Apps
Calm: Meditation and sleep app. Has some free features, but does require a subscription for premium services. High quality.
StopPanic: Free access to videos, CBT techniques and diary, meditation, psychoeducation and resources to help you deal with panic attacks and acute anxiety.
Aura: An all in one app for mindfulness and wellbeing. Includes access to knowledge from over 200 experts and therapists. Very popular with high ratings. You can access a 30 day free trial here: https://aurahealth.io/guestpass/jemma-haythorne
Beyond Now by Beyond Blue: Free suicide safety planning app for easy access anywhere/anytime.
While mental health apps can be helpful, they do not take the place of proper mental health services, such as seeing a psychologist. Psychwest has appointments available now. Book here.
