Top Apps for Mental Health Management

The #LetsTalk app was created by a group of teenagers in Montana, a state with one of the highest teen suicide rates per capita in the United States. Teens can have a difficult time discussing suicidal thoughts or feelings with parents, other adults, and even their friends. This app allows them to connect with resources, accurate information, and even safe spaces for teens in a vulnerable emotional state. #LetsTalk is free on iPhone and Android.

What We Like
The Alliance for Youth and Speaking Socially teamed up with a group of teens from Montana who have dealt personally with suicide or suicidal thoughts to create this app.

What We Don’t Like
Nothing so far, however, the app was launched in late 2017. As word gets out about the app and it gains additional users, there will likely be more information on any bugs or issues with the app. 

The MindShift app was initially designed for teens and young adults, however adults have also found the app helpful. MindShift focuses on coping skills for common anxiety triggers and characteristics including social anxiety, perfectionism, conflicts, and more. This app is free on both Android and iPhone.

What We Like
The app takes a coach-like approach for dealing with the challenges of anxiety, with the goal of helping users gain useful coping skills over time.

What We Don’t Like
The app can be buggy at times. Users have reported problems with the audio stopping when the phone’s screen times out, and our tester had the same experience. However, the developer has been responsive to comments, which is a good sign for an upcoming fix. 

Many therapists and mental health professionals recommend tracking moods and associated triggers, such as situations, sleep, medication, illness, energy level, and other factors that can impact mood throughout the day, week, and over time. iMoodJournal is $1.99 for both iPhone or Android and offers a range of features and options for tracking moods, emotions, thoughts and more.

What We Like
Lots of options to customize the app to the user’s preference. The app tracks data over time and helps identify trends. The smart hashtag feature makes entries searchable and makes finding what you need easy.

What We Don’t Like
We’ll have to get back to you when or if we find something we don’t like. 

The Calm app offers guided meditations, breathing exercises, relaxing music, and more to not only help de-stress but also to reinforce positive thinking practices such as gratitude, boosting self-esteem and more. The app includes options for people who are beginners to meditation or calming exercises and also for people who are more experienced. The app even has programs to help calm children. Calm is free to download with an in-app purchase option for various subscription levels on Android and iPhone. Subscriptions add a number of helpful features and frequent additions of new content.

What We Like
The guided meditations and other relaxation options have something for everyone.

What We Don’t Like
The amount of meditations and other content in the free version is very limited. Most of the options and material the app offers requires a paid subscription to access. 

Headspace is also a meditation-based app but specifically focuses on sleep, relaxation, mindfulness, and maintaining balance throughout your day. The app offers mini meditation sessions for short 2 to 3 minute ways to re-center, as well as SOS sessions to help users with panic episodes. On iPhone and Android, Headspace starts with a free trial before a subscription is required to continue and also access the full list of features.

What We Like
This app is great for beginners and for people who find meditation difficult.

What We Don’t Like
The app is less useful for those who are more experienced or advanced with meditation. The amount of content in the free trial is very minimal.

Everyone gets angry sometimes, but for others, managing anger can be challenging and create additional stress. Breathe2Relax is focused entirely on breathing exercises. Studies have shown guided deep breathing exercises to be more helpful than other types of calming exercises for people who struggle with controlling anger. Breathe2Relax is helpful for stress, anxiety, and panic as well. The app is free for both iPhone and Android.

What We Like
The app provides helpful and clear explanations. It’s also easy to use and follow along with.

What We Don’t Like
At times, the music can be distracting. 

The PTSD Coach app was initially designed with veterans and active military personnel in mind but is helpful for anyone who struggles with symptoms of PTSD. This app provides great education on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) along with different types of tools to help manage the various ways PTSD impacts daily life. The app also has options that allow users to customize features and upload their own photos and music, making the app unique to them and their needs. This app is free for both Android and iPhone.

What We Like
There are very few apps out that focus exclusively on PTSD, and this app does it very well.

What We Don’t Like
Infrequent bug fixes and updates. With the initial design focused on veterans and current military, many PTSD suffers who are not affiliated with the armed forces don’t realize it can help them as well. 

The SAM app is free for both iPhone and Android and is specifically intended to help with anxiety and high-stress situations. This app is often recommended by therapists because it includes a number of exercises both within the app and real-world exercises separate from the app.

What We Like 
The app offers a variety of tools and options that help with high-anxiety situations, such as the Calm Down Tool.

What We Don’t Like 
The design of the app is not as intuitive and user-friendly as it could be, which could cause frustration and additional stress when a user is already in a state of high anxiety. 

The Pacifica app offers users help with managing symptoms and episodes of anxiety. The app has a clear user interface that is easy to navigate. Pacifica is free to download for both iPhone and Android but does offer in-app purchases for subscriptions.

What We Like
Pacifica includes features that allow the user to coordinate with their therapist for “homework” and assignments between therapy sessions.

What We Don’t Like
Frequent users will find some of the content repetitive between update releases from the developers. 

Happify is free to try on both Android and iPhone with an in-app subscription purchase to access the full range of options and content. Happify was designed using science and evidence-based tools and programs to promote positive emotional and mental health. We found the app particularly useful with depression, a condition where self-care can be challenging. Happify encourages self-care by helping users break through negative thought patterns and establishing new habits.

What We Like
Happify has great tools for mindfulness and being in the present moment.

What We Don’t Like
Some of the features or activities take quite a while to load. There isn’t very much free content provided before the paid subscription would be needed. 

The MoodMission app stands out among apps intended for depression and anxiety because of the focus on actions and activities built into it. The user indicates what they are struggling with and the app selects five missions geared toward helping with that particular emotion or issue. The app also tracks the user’s missions over time and adjusts missions selected based on the user’s previous successes. MoodMission is free to download for iPhone and Android. After the selection of free missions and features are used, an in-app subscription purchase will provide more missions and features.

What We Like
The variety of different missions is great.

What We Don’t Like
To begin using MoodMission, the user has to first complete a fairly long survey. While the survey is intended to help the app in gaining user preferences to select appropriate missions, the length of the survey can be a turn-off.