There are some 3,000 mental health apps out there offering everything from customized hypnosis to guided meditations.
“The potential for them to be very useful is there — they’re easy for people to download, they’re affordable and accessible,” says Boston psychiatrist John Torous, whose research as a senior resident in psychiatry at Brigham and Women’s Hospital focuses on such programs.
So how do you choose among them? Torous advises viewing the apps as self-help books; they’re useful to some, not to others. And if your symptoms worsen, seek professional help.
Here, we test-drive a range of apps designed to reduce daily mental irritations to see if they really ease the mind.
iSleep Easy
About: A voice guides you through a mix of belly breathing, sleep affirmations and meditations to put you to sleep.
Use: Daily, before bedtime. Three playlists allow you to change it up
Pros: The music runs longer than the voice-over, letting you drift off to sleep slowly. You can adjust the volume, too.
Cons: The voice doesn’t have the most relaxing tone. If you’re sharing a bed with someone, you’ll need headphones.
Take-away: I felt the tension in my body fade faster than usual. I woke up refreshed the next morning, not remembering the last half of the playlist I had selected.
Personal Zen
About: A game in which you follow a happy face while ignoring the angry one, to teach you to focus on the positive.
Use: A few times a week, for five to 10 minutes each session
Pros: The ambient music and color-changing background are relaxing. The app is backed by a professional.
Cons: Cheesy quotes — such as “Chilling Out” — that pop up between games are more tacky than relaxing.
Take-away: The 10 minutes I took to play the game offered a nice break from work. I developed deeper breathing while playing, which helped keep me relaxed.
Acupressure: Heal Yourself
About: Select your ailment — from backache to cold — for instructions on which spots to press to relieve symptoms.
Use: As needed, or regularly if you’re treating a chronic ailment
Pros: The fix for anxiety — pressing a finger between the brows with a pumping motion — was simple and worked.
Cons: A section with suggestions for emergency situations — like heart attacks — made me take the app less seriously.
Take-away: Easing workday headaches? Sure. But I wouldn’t rely on this for serious pain.
Color Therapy
About: Color in pictures of animals, trees and other objects to distract yourself from stress.
Use: As needed
Pros: Lots of colors make it easier than hauling a Crayola 64-pack to work. It’s also more subtle.
Cons: It’s difficult to zoom in on tiny spaces that need filling to perfect your psychedelic pug.
Take-away: Maybe it works better on an iPad, but on an iPhone it’s just tedious.
BellyBio Interactive Breathing
About: Rest your phone on your belly to promote deep breathing by syncing music to your breath.
Use: As needed
Pros: Once you master deep belly breathing, the music truly knows when you’re inhaling.
Cons: Lying down at your desk and sticking your phone in your pants will draw stares.
Take-away: The app helped me achieve deep breathing and shrug off my stress. I used it right before bed, and it helped me tuck in with a peaceful mindset.
Build Self-Esteem Hypnosis
About: A certified clinical hypnotherapist leads you through a 20-minute story, which will supposedly boost your self-confidence. The hypnosis works to push away subconscious thoughts that can lead to stress.
Use: Daily for one to three weeks
Cons: The story the hypnotist tells about going on a journey to a “special place” doesn’t really follow an arc, and it’s hard not to get hung up on trying to make concrete sense of what she’s saying.
Pros: The soothing tone of the hypnotist and the gentle music is relaxing, even if the story drags on.
Take-away: While it’s hard to commit to doing the app daily for one week, even listening in every so often did boost my confidence. As my workload piled up the next day in the office, I felt able to handle each task pushed my way.