Apps for Mental Health

Mood Fit

Moodfit is a wonderful app that has many different uses for your mental health. It is designed to track your moods, give you mental health reminders, utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques, understand medications and therapy, and so much more!

This app tracks your progress on a daily basis, allows you to set daily and monthly goals, and keeps a record of how often you utilize it.

Moodfit is probably one of the most all-inclusive apps out there, and it is available for free through the respective Android or Apple stores. If you are interested, they do have a premium subscription for $9.99 a month, which unlocks additional content.

Insight timer

Insight Timer is a meditation app that we like because it comes with a library equipped with over 30,000 guided mediations from all over the world. There is such a wide variety of content available, there are even guided meditations for children!

Along with scripted meditations, there is also a music library complete with natural and instrumental sounds designed to assist with mediation, sleeping, and creating space for yourself.

If you are wondering about the power of meditation, Insight Timer also features various talks about the benefits of meditation which are free to utilize as well.

Insight Timer is free to download, and also offers a premium subscription for $9.99. It is available on Android and Apple devices through their respective app stores.

PTSD coach

PTSD Coach is an app that was designed by the VA’s National Center for PTSD and DoD’s National Center for Telehealth and Technology.

It is designed to inform the public about what PTSD is and how it affects people, while providing a free self-assessment for you to take.

There are a lot of tools available through PTSD Coach including positivity coaching, relaxation methods, anger management advice and much more. The app pays attention to your preferences and offers suggestions for you to make sure the app has everything you need.

PTSD Coach is free to download, and is available on Android and Apple devices through their respective app stores.

Breathe2relax

Breathe2Relax is a stress management app that utilizes science and proven breathing exercises to teach you about the power of your breath. Breathing techniques are shown to help decrease the effects of panic or anxiety attacks, increased heart rates, and stress.

After you go through an exercise, you are able to rate how you are feeling, and you can even pair this app with your Apple Watch and HealthKit to track your progress.

It is available on both the Apple and Android app stores for free.

Happify

Happify is another all-inclusive app that utilizes science-backed exercises and activities to track your mental health progress, while suggesting ways to improve various aspects of your choosing.

This app starts out by giving you a “happiness score,” and suggesting daily ways that you can improve that score. Something unique for this app is that you can use it across many platforms, including your smartphone, tablet or computer.

Happify creates its exercises and techniques by utilizing portions of positive psychology, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, self-awareness, and mindfulness. If you are interested in reading about the science behind their methods, this information is also readily available on their website.

Happify is available on either the Android or Apple store for free.

MoodTools is an app that the Anxiety and Depression Association of America rated four out of five stars based on its ease of use, science-backed research, and effectiveness.

One of the most unique features of MoodTools is the fact that you can take the standard PHQ-9 depression screener at various intervals to track your progress and how you are doing.

It also includes a thought diary that has many options while allowing you to track your progress, along with the ability to create a safety plan if you feel you are at risk for self-harming behaviors.

All of this creates a wonderfully unique and helpful tool for monitoring your moods, thoughts, and feelings.

MoodTools is free for Android and Apple in their respective app stores.

Habitbull

The final app that we are recommending is HabitBull, which is a community-based app that is designed to help you break habits that you feel are unhealthy. Although we focused on HabitBull for its mental health aspect, HabitBull could be utilized for any sort of habit you wish to break.

This app comes with reminders, widgets that you can put on your phone’s home screen, and cloud data backup. 

The idea is that as you track your habits, you increase your awareness of them, which gives you more opportunities to refuse the habit or replace it with a healthy one.

HabitBull is available for free in the Android and Apple app markets.

Although we highlighted our favorite apps for mental health, there are many options that are available in the app stores. If you find an app that you feel would be beneficial, just make sure you are checking the reviews so that you can be sure it is a healthy tool to utilize. Also, if you find an app that resonates with you, mention it to your counselor at your next appointment and see if there is a way to incorporate it into your treatment plan moving forward.

Let’s make 2020 a year full of mental health awareness and personal growth!