Currently, looking for professional mental health services is intimidating, particularly in this technology-driven world. Most individuals opt for adequate sleep, a balanced diet, and exercise to improve their physical health. But, they ignore their mental well-being. Like your physical health, mental health plays a significant role in boosting your overall health and well-being. Based on science, there’s an array of mental health problems: psychosis, anxiety disorder, depression, bipolar affective disorder, OCD, schizophrenia, paranoia, dissociative disorder, and PTSD. Therefore, there’s an array of strategies that can help you boost your mental well-being. These strategies include seeing a therapist, practicing mindfulness, talking to a friend, journaling, reading a book, and utilizing mental health apps. The key benefits of using mental health apps include accessibility, convenience, improved mood, free or cost-friendly, and better coping skills. Mental health apps can give you support, tools, and activities to help you manage your mental illness. Below are the best mental health apps of 2023.
Best Mental Health Apps of 2023
Declutter The Mind
The scientific benefits of meditation are well understood and have been studied by countless organizations and researchers. As meditation becomes a more mainstream way to manage and handle mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, the meditation apps available has grown. Declutter The Mind is a free guided meditation app with a growing library of free practices for everything from anxiety to sleep, to focus and positivity. The app also contains a new guided practice every single day with the daily meditations as well as meditation courses to either teach you how to meditate, to deepening your practice if you’re more advanced.
Sanvello
The main objective of the Sanvello app is to help you treat mild to moderate depression, stress, and anxiety. This app contains essential cognitive behavioral therapy tools to help you attain your mental health goals and cope with depression. In addition, its tools will help you build life skills that suit your tastes and preferences. In a particular study, Sanvello tools improved the mental health of 500 people with mild and moderate depression and anxiety. After installing the Sanvello app, you’ll be required to track down your mood daily, identify mood patterns, and label your emotions. The cognitive-behavioral therapy tools will help you nurture your mindfulness skills. This will boost not only your mental health but also your physical health. In addition, the Sanvello app will help you build lifelong skills that’ll improve your confidence and make you feel better. Some features of this app will help you cope with issues, such as morning dread, test-taking, and public speaking. While using the Sanvello app, it’s important to set smart and attainable goals. Also, consider sharing your feelings with anonymous people.
Pros
- Provides a wide range of options based on your needs
- It’s effective
- Allows you to connect with anonymous people who understand your mental health struggles
- Cost-friendly (Premium version: $8.99; Basic version: Free)
- Ability to access a trustworthy, licensed, and reputable therapist
Cons
- Requires a monthly subscription, especially if you require advanced features
- Isn’t appropriate for chronic mental health issues
- Premium features, such as psychotherapy and coaching, are pretty expensive
- Therapy option isn’t available in all options
Happify
Happify uses games to boost an individual’s mood. These games were developed with positive CBT interventions and psychological techniques. This is one of the best mental health apps that will help you with the following:
- Building confidence
- coping with stress
- Help you conquer negative thoughts
- Boosts your career success
Pros
- Achievable goals
- Easy to use
Cons
- Paid version is expensive
Moodfit
Moodfit is a free app that can help you track your moods. Also, it incorporates exercises that’ll help you address negative emotions. For example, you can find the Moodfit app on the Apple Store or Google play store. This app contains insights and tools that’ll improve mood. For instance, Moodfit can help you understand feelings of depression, high levels of stress, and anxiety. Analyze and evaluate the questionnaire to determine the severity of the mental health symptoms. You can use audio files and articles to learn about your current emotions. Good fit allows you to track down your daily moods. This approach will help you identify the root cause of certain feelings and their solutions. Some of the factors that might affect your emotions include exercise and sleep. For example, the cognitive-behavioral therapy section of the Moodfit app plays a vital role in helping individuals cope with negative thoughts. In addition, you’ll develop new skills, such as mindfulness and gratitude, that’ll help you think differently. You can use the app to identify the most suitable treatment options to improve your symptoms.
Pros
- Visual insights and actionable exercise
- Customizable based on your goals and needs
- Adaptability
- Tracks down your progress
- It has daily reminders
Cons
- May cause self-diagnose
- Inability to access professional help
- Lack of progress may lead to frustrations
- Tracking moods can be tedious and daunting
Better Stop Suicide
This app helps people with suicidal thoughts to reason and calm down. Better Stop Suicide incorporates psychological techniques to help you make sound decisions. You can record your audio messages and listen to professional audio files in this app. In addition, you’ll connect with professionals who’ll help you if you’re in need. Out of the best mental health apps, this one deals with one of the most extreme issues in a delicate and professional way.
Pros
- Incorporates exercises that boost your mood
- Recorded audio files to help relieve stress
- It’s free of charge
Cons
- Limited range of activities
Depression CBT Self-Help Guide
This app will help you obtain more information about depression and how to manage its symptoms. Depression CBT Self-Help Guide encourages you to engage in healthy relationships to boost your mood and overall well-being. When you download and install this app, you’ll be required to fill in a questionnaire to determine the severity of your symptoms. The app contains vital information that’ll help you cope with depression. In addition, it will help you understand the common symptoms of depression, such as lack of enough sleep and low energy. Based on research, the Depression CBT Self-Help Guide contains the following:
- Emotion training audio: helps you learn how to calm your emotions
- A screening test: determines the severity of depression
- Fifty suggestions with a tracking feature
- Thought dairy
- Articles about cognitive behavioral therapy and clinical depression
- Relaxation audio
Depression CBT Self-Help Guide is a free app. Therefore, consider downloading this app if you’re struggling with depression and on a budget.
Pros
- Promotes calm with audio elements and activities
- Free access
- Contains in-depth mental health information
- Offer feedback, especially on symptoms severity
Cons
- There’s no access to professional help
- May cause self-diagnose
- Inadequate information about the key components of CBT
- It’s only available on Android devices
- You may struggle to identify negative emotions and thoughts
Talkspace
Talkspace is a unique mental health app that gives you access to professional therapists. It connects you to mental health experts via digital devices, such as smartphones, tablets, or computers. All the therapists at the Talkspace app have at least 3000 hours of clinical experience. Note that therapists undergo vigorous training in psychodynamic, dialectical behavioral therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and existential-humanistic approaches. In this app, you’ll have the ability to send your therapist a video, audio, or text. In some instances, you can schedule a video chat or call.
Pros
- Find a therapist that can diagnose and manage various mental health problems
- Ability to interact with licensed therapists
- Conversations are confidential and secure
- Various ways to communicate with a reputable and licensed therapist
- A wide range of price options
Cons
- Therapist’s communication option may not suit your tastes and preferences
- Most expensive ( ranges from $65 to $260, depending on your needs)
- Therapist evaluations surveys are time-consuming and aggravating
- Limited range of therapeutic techniques
- Isn’t suitable for chronic mental health conditions
MindShift CBT
The main objective of the MindShift CBT App is to relieve anxiety. The CBT tools play a vital role in adjusting your thinking and behaviors. In addition, MindShift CBT may help you tackle social anxiety, worry, perfectionism, panic, and phobia. Some of the features that you’ll find in this app include coping cards, thought journals, and activities to change a life, face fears, and develop healthy habits.
Pros
- Uses psychotherapy techniques
- It’s free of charge
- Designed for anxiety
Cons
- You may experience technical issues
- Limited number of entries
MoodMission
It’s scientifically proven that the MoodMission app helps improve your mood and other mental health skills. The MoodMission app is designed to help individuals struggling with depression, anxiety, and stress. The app incorporates survey questions that focus on your emotions and general well-being. Some of the critical missions that you’ll find in this app include the following:
- Physical activities, including push-ups
- Emotion-based activities, such as breathing exercises
- Thought-based activities
- Behavior-based activities, such as learning how to sew, crochet, or knit
All you need to do is select your current emotions and identify how distressing they’re. You’ll find a list of options to help you identify the mental health problem. Based on your response, the MoodMission app will suggest specific missions that’ll help you boost your mental well-being. Note that each task has a unique objective that’ll positively promote your mental health. Choose an assignment that matches your mental health issues.
Pros
- Cost-effective ($5.99 on Android and $4.99 on iOS)
- In-app rewards that boost your motivation
- Developed by mental health specialists
- Contains mood-boosting activities
- Scientifically proven CBT activities for anxiety and depression
- Supported by randomized-controlled trials
Cons
- Inability to access professional help
- Initial questionnaire is overwhelming
- Options are limited (There are pre-selected missions)
- Some activities are daunting and time-consuming
Conclusion
It’s essential to take care of your mental health. Above-listed are essential mental health apps that’ll help you boost your mental health and physical health.
