Mental health goes digital

There are apps for managing your mental wellbeing and prioritising yourself.

All of these apps have different functions and are meant to help you succeed at various stages in your daily wellbeing routine. Some apps will help you understand and organise your feelings. Others may help you develop new coping techniques. Still others are designed to help you regulate your breathing. Self-care apps often use reminders and games to help make it less of a chore.

In one popular app, you can take care of your “virtual pets” by taking good care of yourself. It’s like a to-do listing with easy tasks to complete, such as “drink some water” or “go for a stroll”. As you care for yourself, your virtual pet grows. This creates a fun visual representation of the journey to self-care. Some apps are based on mood tracking or journaling, which helps users to reflect on their emotional patterns over time and identify triggers.

On-demand, online therapy services are also on the rise. Online therapy services allow you to connect with therapists from all over the country. Previously, you would have had to search through yellow pages for the perfect match. Video calls, messaging apps and exercises are all integrated into the apps to make therapy more flexible.

There are risks associated with digital mental health and therapy. Data privacy issues, poor or inconsistent quality control and high demands causing burnout top the list.

Apps and online services cannot replace in-person support or human contact when someone is experiencing a crisis. These tools must be approached with optimism and caution. Users should remember that technology is not a replacement for real-life mental support, but a supplement.