05 Feb Mental Health Apps
Give up your therapist? Not quite yet. But some exciting new trends in self help can be easily accessed right from your phone.
Most mobile phone apps are intended as an adjunct to therapy rather than a replacement for it. Patients can learn to relax themselves, monitor their moods, and attend 12-step meetings. Even the Veteran Affairs National Center has developed an app for those suffering from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD Coach). Here are some possibilities:
Relaxation Some of the most popular apps (iBreathe, Relax and Rest) are guided exercises leading the user into deeply relaxing states wherever one is, whenever needed.
Mood Journals These apps (eCBTMood, Optimism Lite) encourage people to graph their daily moods and develop strategies to manage them. Users are asked questions about their habits such as exercise, caffeine intake, and the prevalence of positive or negative self talk. The user can learn to make different choices in the future as good preventive mental health care.
12-step Meetings (Pocket Sponsor, iPromises) These apps help people recovering from addictions, offering affirmations, meditations, and support.
Dreams Move aside, Dr. Freud. A new Japanese app (“Have a Good Dream”) that is not yet available in English allows the user to control their dreams. The app tracks when users has entered REM sleep, then plays a soundtrack to encourage a dream state of their choice. Users are encouraged to interpret and share their dreams via social media.
Relationships Need a Love Doctor? Leading relationship expert John Gottman, PhD, has developed an app (Love Apps) that asks pertinent questions to encourage closer sharing and intimacy.
Virtual Environments The most exciting possibilities, however, are coming from the world of gaming. Developers are working on apps that will envelop the user in a fictional world wherein they will make choices that change the way they use their brains. An example would be an app for a socially anxious person who will enter an imaginary party and make confident choices that will provide a life-changing experience.
But change is not necessarily going to happen overnight. Research on the effectiveness of mental health apps is not conclusive. A recent study completed by Richard McNally, PhD, at Harvard proved that readers of the article about the research improved their scores on the test questionnaire in equal numbers to research participants. It seems we’re all excited about the possibility of improving our life through apps, even if they don’t work. Apps can’t replace the warmth of human contact and caring that is present in a face-to-face therapy session. At least not yet.
© 2014 Catherine Auman This article is an excerpt from Catherine’s book Shortcuts to Mindfulness: 100 Ways to Personal and Spiritual Growth
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