I see a therapist and psychiatrist. On the days I don’t meet with them, these apps have helped me regulate my poor habits, track my mood and remember that life can be a little simpler if I breathe a little more deeply. Sometimes, apps are a pain because you realize they don’t quite meet your needs and you already spent seven dollars on them. Hopefully, this article can help you find your mental health match.
- Youper
I personally use Youper every single day. It has a beautiful platform that is soothing to look at and has lots of options in their app that range from “Solving a Problem” to “Self-Esteem Awareness” for each day that aren’t overwhelming. I track my mood each morning and night to see where I start and end my day mood wise. Youper provides a pretty and colorful mood tracking graph for each month that you can look at to make a mental note of what your biggest struggles and strengths are. It is filled with insight on what makes you excited, angry and every other emotion in between as Youper gets to know you. It also has meditations, cognitive behavioral therapy where you can write your feelings down and work through them, and goals you can set for yourself. They will even send you a reminder to ask if you have completed the goal. Youper also has the ability to send medications to your door if that is something you would want or need.
2. eMoods
If you struggle with bipolar or a generalized mood disorder, eMoods could be your best friend. It helped me track my medications when I was testing them out. It helped me remember which ones I had already been on and which ones worked or didn’t work for me. eMoods also tracks your mood and the events that caused it (if anything in particular did) so you can see where you get stuck and where you thrive.
3. Headspace
Headspace is a meditation app. Personally, I use it for sleeping. They have soft “sleepcasts” that gently calm you down for the night. Headspace also has other kinds of meditations on gratitude, relationships and really anything you could be looking for. Additionally, Headspace has a “Move” element where you can watch a yoga session and follow along. Though you have to subscribe to this app, I feel it is definitely worth it if you have trouble with sleeping, anxiety and/or depression.
4. Flora
For my friends with ADHD or ADD, Flora is a great tool to keep you on track. It’s a timer on your phone that gives you an incentive to stay off of it for an period of time. The incentive is that if you stay off your phone for long enough, a real tree is planted in celebration of your accomplishments and the earth! You can also set a dollar amount that will be donated to environmental campaigns if you end up on your phone with time still on the clock. This helps me when I need to read chapters for school and I hope it can help you as well.
5. MyFitnessPal
It may not seem like a mental health app, however, MyFitnessPal works for people who have eating disorders to make sure you get the proper nutrients for the day. MyFitnessPal asks you to track your meals each day. You can also link it to your phone’s movement or an Apple Watch to track workouts and steps you take during the day. You can set up reminders to work out or to track your food intake. For those who have problems with overreporting their calorie intake in an unhealthy way, this app is not for you and I would be cautious using it. Overall, this app is great for myself, who has bulimia, as I tend to have fluctuating patterns of eating.
We all need help. Whether it be from a person or an app on your phone, getting stable and healthy is the main goal. Using applications on my phone has helped me greatly to keep track of my life as I go through it.