The smartphone as mental health aid

Because of its mobility, connectivity, computing power, and apps, the smartphone is a once-in-a-generation device that will revolutionize many sectors of society including medicine. Although physical fitness has been an early focus for mobile apps, the mental health realm is now catching up and garnering more attention.

A recent Huffington Post article described 8 apps that can benefit one's mental well-being. Here I group the apps into three general categories A) Connecting, B) Tracking, and C) Therapy.

A. Connecting to mental health professionals

The use-cases can range from a crisis situation to regular meetings, and they take advantage of the communications capability of the smartphone.

A.1. Crisis TextLine: "24-hour texting hotline provides realtime emotional support for young adults."

A.2. Talkspace: "[A]llows users to connect with licensed therapists anonymously in order to talk out what's on their minds."

A.3. Lantern: "[O]ffers daily sessions and one-on-one coaching on a subscription basis."

B. Tracking mental health state

Just like physical health, mental health can be tracked which can provide valuable information.

B.1. Mood 24/7: "Users are encouraged to monitor their moods through a daily question sent via text message."

B.2. Optimism: "[A] self-tracking tool, designed to help the user identify what elements influence their emotional and mental well-being."

C. Therapy

These apps attempt to manage and even treat certain mental health conditions taking advantage of a gaming experience.

C.1. MoodTune: "If a game is more your style, try this training tool developed by mental health experts. MoodTune uses task-based tricks to help manage depression and anxiety and was developed after nearly 10 years of research."

C.2. Personal Zen: "Takes therapy techniques and morphs them into an engaging game, complete with relaxing music.... Researchers built the game's concept around a cognitive technique known as attention-bias modification training. Its goal is to help users alleviate anxiety."

In summary, the first-generation of mental health apps shows good promise. I expect a lot of exciting developments in this space in the future.

Figure 1. Mental health apps such as Personal Zen represent the first-generation of apps using the capabilities of the smartphone to provide mental health tracking, connection, and even therapy.