Apps are available for everything these days from shopping to entertainment to travel. Apps are also available that can help you with your mental health. Mental health professionals have selected the best apps that claim to help look after your mental health and well-being. Many students at YLHS possibly struggling with mental health issues could find these apps helpful.

Calm:

Calm was named Apple’s “App of the Year” in 2017. The app is designed to reduce anxiety, improve sleep, and help you feel happier. Calm focuses on the four key areas of meditation, breathing, sleep, and relaxation, with the aim of bringing clarity and peace to your daily life. “

The app delivers meditations that can help you to destress, as well as breathing programs, music, and sounds from nature to relax your mind and body and promote better sleep. “This app has really helped to calm me when i’m stressed out the night before a big test or presentation,” said Cheryl Pham (11) when asked about her experience with the Calm app.

Calm is the perfect app if you are new to meditation, but it also offers programs for more advanced users. Meditation sessions are available in lengths of 3–25 minutes, to fit in with your schedule.

Headspace:

Headspace uses mindfulness and meditation to help you perform at your best each day. The app’s goal is to provide you with the essential tools to achieve a happier, healthier life.

Whether you need to build healthier relationships, find a place of calm, keep your mind fit, or reduce stress, Headspace has hundreds of themed meditation sessions to support you.

The app reports that meditation reduces daily stress and improves focus and attention. What is more, using Headspace is suggested to enhance compassionate behavior toward others in just 3 weeks.

Moodnotes:

Moodnotes is a thought journal and mood diary. The app can be used to capture your feelings and improve your thinking habits through positive psychology.

Track your mood and increase self-awareness of what influences it. Learn to recognize “traps” in your thinking and ways to rethink the situation.

If you happen to enter a “thinking trap,” Moodnotes will provide suggestions and useful advice to reduce stress and enhance your well-being. Progress is viewable in the helpful “Insights” dashboard.

Pacifica:

Pacifica is an app that focuses on anxiety and stress  It provides a toolbox to deal with daily anxiety and stress, along with a highly supportive community of individuals that are like-minded.

“Pacifica helps you to get rid of unhelpful thoughts, feelings, and behaviors through methods such as meditation, mood tracking, and relaxation”, said Jeffrey Tran (11) who has experience using the app.

The app provides audio lessons and activities that help you to cope with stress and depression, and it sets daily challenges to help you tackle anxiety one day at a time and reach your long-term goals.