Print

They're not going to cure everything, but they could help.
By Catriona Harvey-Jenner

Suffering from mental health issues can be difficult to deal with, and while no amount of technology promises to make everything better, there are some apps which can help to ease the everyday stresses of conditions such as anxiety, depression, OCD and more.

1. Track your mood

Remente focuses on helping you exercise your mind and manage day-to-day tasks by first assessing how happy you are with life, identifying the areas that you want to improve, and setting manageable tasks. The app also lets you track your mood and provides you with insightful courses on different areas of life. While many of us might associate our phones with stress and distraction, Remente aims to provide a happy place that's just at the tip of your fingers, helping you stay calm and relaxed whenever you might need it throughout the day.

Available on iOS and Android, Premium Membership is also available for £4.17/month.

2. Breathe to help you de-stress

Breathe2Relax is an app that can help you manage stress whenever you most need, whether you're on your daily commute, at work or at home. The app allows you to record and visualise your current stress levels and then provides you with breathing exercises, giving you a quick and effective way of dealing with any stressful situation.

Available on iOS and Android, free.

3. Turn your emotions into a game you can control

SuperBetter. If you want to look after your mental health and gamify the process at the same time, this is the app for you. SuperBetter helps you implement the emotions experienced when playing a game; such as optimism, determination, courage and creativity in your daily life. By providing you with challenges, quests, boosts and even villains, the app is a fun way of keeping happy and forming better habits.

Available on iOS and Android, free.

4. Challenge your anxiety with experiments

Pacifica is perfect if you struggle with anxiety. This app tracks your mood on a daily, weekly and monthly basis and provides you with breathing and meditation exercises to help you work through an anxiety episode. Interestingly, the app also provides you with little experiments that challenge your anxiety, with the aim of gradually reducing its levels, as well as a diary to help you keep track of your thoughts.

Available on iOS and Android, full access available at £4.49/month.

5. Fall asleep faster

Sleepio. When it comes to mental health, sleep is essential. In fact, not getting enough sleep has been linked to developing depression and increasing anxiety levels. Sleepio can help you fall asleep faster, improve the overall quality of your sleep and know what lifestyle changes you should make to sleep better.

Available on iOS, full access £200/year.

6. Walk and be mindful

Street Wisdom Wandercast. Ok, it's technically not an app but you can download the audio and listen on your phone... via an app. This audio programme is produced by a social enterprise that's now in 25 countries, and encourages users to see their individual urban environments in a new way as they walk and listen. The concept is intended to help users take a step back away from their lives, to slow down and focus their minds as they ask themselves questions and try to find the answer in their immediate surroundings.

Available online. Street Wisdom requires a £5.99 donation (not for profit) from users.

7. Meditate on the go

Buddhify. No matter what you are doing, whether that's waking up, taking a five minute break at work, trying to get to sleep or simply feeling overwhelmed - this app will provide you with meditation sessions tailored to any situations. From over 80 tracks, you are bound to find something to help you deal with your emotions and feelings, no matter what they are.

Available on iOS and Android, £4.99/ £2.39.

8. Listen to other people's experiences

Another one that's not technically an app, but a podcast (created by Spotify, which is downloadable as an app). 'Killing It' is a podcast that shares stories from real people from real start-ups who have had their own mental health issues on the frontline of entrepreneurship. Being in the midst of mental health issues can make you feel like you'll never be free from it, and that you won't be able to achieve anything, but listening to this podcast will remind you that's simply not true.

9. Switch off your daily autopilot

Wake Up! How much of the day do we spend on autopilot, going about things without putting much thought into it? Our subconscious carries us through a lot of time, and that's when our mind has the opportunity to wander and can get on top of us. Every once in a while, though, we 'wake up' and feel connected, aware and appreciative of our lives. The logic behind this app is that the more of these moments we have, the happier we are. So it takes you through a series of balanced, playful and interesting experiences that will capture your attention, engage your imagination and stimulate your senses.

Available on iOS and Android, free.

10. Virtually escape to a better place

Magic Window isn't technically an app for monitoring your mental health, but it does provide your eyes with a pleasant and soothing break when everything gets a bit too much. The app will provide you with 22 beautiful, free scenes from across the world, bringing them to life as you watch. Combined with relaxing music, it is guaranteed to provide you with a bit of zen, whether you only have 20 seconds or 2 hours.

Available on iOS, full access available for £2.29.

11. Aid your treatment away from your therapist

nOCD is a tool designed to work in conjunction with Mindfulness and Exposure Response Prevention Therapy - a treatment commonly used to help those who've been diagnosed with OCD. As well as making various elements of the behavioural treatment more effective, efficient, and convenient, the app also helps your therapist by gathering data and metrics about your case.

Available on iOS , free.

12. Discover the cause of your mood swings

Moody Me. We often find ourselves feeling sad or frustrated for no apparent reason. Moody Me lets you track your mood fluctuations, providing details charts, graphs and calendars, allowing you to track the causes behind each mood. In addition to education you about moodswings, the app also lets you create a gallery of photos that you snapped, to cheer you up whenever you feel blue.

Available on iOS, free.

13. Soothe yourself to the sound of music (and nature)

Relax Melodies is similar to Magic Window, but the focus is on sound, instead of images. The app allows you to create a combination of melodies and nature sounds – such as sea waves and a soft piano for example, and relax to your favourite mix. You can use it in a variety of situations, from falling to asleep, to doing a yoga workout.

Available on iOS and Android, free.