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Some mental health apps allow you to accessonline talk therapyor psychiatric care from your smartphone or tablet.
Talkspace
Others may help you to begin a meditation practice, cope with stress and anxiety, or improvesleep quality.
Here are the mental health apps that ranked the highest.
This offer is a partnership between Verywell Mind and BetterHelp.
Headspace
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Our second therapist made it to the appointment and was punctual and very communicative.
“BetterHelp is great for busy people who need scheduling flexibility.
Verywell / Designed by Amelia Manley
It’s convenient, and once you find a therapist, appointments are readily available.
BetterHelp tester, who was looking for parenting support
Unfortunately, BetterHelp doesn’t accept insurance.
Talkspace offers online mental health care through a secure, HIPAA-compliant, and user-friendly app.
It’s a comprehensive platform with a variety of therapy options that offers insurance coverage.
This kind of support is especially helpful for people dealing with depression.
I come away feeling a little lighter.”
There are plenty of videos and mini-courses to help you ease into a mindfulness practice if you’renew to meditation.
We tried Headspace for a month and were really impressed with its massive library of offerings.
We could choose from hundreds of exercises within four different categoriesMeditation, Sleep, Stress, and Mindfulness.
There are also sleepcasts (ambient sounds paired with soothing narratives) to help you wind down at night.
If this is a huge concern for you, it may not be a great choice.
Many users credited Headspace with taking them from meditation newbies to passionate mindfulness advocates.
However, some said they thought the annual subscription was a bit pricey.
Parents can even record their own voices saying encouraging phrases that their child will hear as they complete activities.
For parents and caregivers, the app includes free resources for teaching your child problem-solving skills and self-soothing strategies.
I Am Sober is much more customizable and community-oriented than similar apps.
Theres also a space to share your story and track your progress with others in recovery.
To my surprise, Ineverheard the end of a story.
I was not only impressed, but I ended up gettingsuchgood sleep over the course of the month."
Many users appreciated Calmshigh-quality guided meditationsand well-produced bedtime stories voiced by well-known, experienced voiceover actors.
Some said they consistently relied on Calm to help them get a solid night of sleep.
Others liked that the games werent overly time-consuming, yet were still transformational.
However, a few Happify users thought the paid version of the app was a bit too expensive.
The app helped us track our anxious thought patterns over time so we could disrupt the worry cycle."
All coping skills had customization options, and we could choose if we wanted music.
We found this a bit jarring and distracting, making it hard to relax.
For example, users were able to let go of their worries more easily with the easy-to-use tracking feature.
These factors include:
Who Is a Mental Health App Right For?
Some mental health apps are designed to help people who have recently gotten sober or want to get sober.
Mental health apps should generally not be used by people in active distress.
What If I’m Having Thoughts of Harming Myself?
In some cases, a therapy app may be used as a substitute for in-person therapy.
Instead, they are most effective when used as a supplement to counseling.
How Much Do Mental Health Apps Cost?
However, many apps offer a free basic version as well as a premium version with many additional features.
How Do Mental Health Apps Work?
Mental health apps can vary greatly in terms of function, design, purpose, and features.
Are Mental Health Apps Effective?
Research suggests that mental health apps are effective in treating the symptoms of certain conditions.
However, the research on mental health apps is ongoing, and findings are mixed.
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Chandrashekar P.Do mental health mobile apps work: evidence and recommendations for designing high-efficacy mental health mobile apps.mHealth.
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