Bad days: we’ve all had them. What starts as a simple irritation can grow into an overwhelming amount of stress, which in turn can cause further complications in our lives.
For someone with mental illness, the presence or lack of stress can be a major component of how their day will go. Fortunately, with the help of our smartphones, we are only a few clicks away from apps that can help relieve stress and reduce anxiety to provide for a healthier life.
A general search for mental health apps can turn up a surprising number of apps, and it can be hard to know which ones may be the right ones for you.
Thankfully, Pinterest lists can serve as great guides to finding the perfect combination of apps to help you lead a stress-free life.
Happify is an app that is focused on emotional health and well-being and makes use of what the developers describe as “positive psychology, mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy.” This app is used to help boost the happiness of its users, reduce anxiety and relieve stress.
Happify’s philosophy revolves around the idea that emotional well-being and happiness can be measured by figuring out where the individual’s happiness level is currently at, and from there they can work to improve it through the features the app provides.
Happify includes stress relieving games, community support and tracks that are specialized for your needs.
Like Happify, SuperBetter brings a positive mindset front and center in an app where your challenge (whether it’s anxiety, depression, stress, etc.) becomes a part of your journey to a better state of mental well-being.
In SuperBetter, bad habits become “bad guys,” and you can find Allies to help you along the way while gaining skills through games and activities that you can translate into your everyday life.
SuperBetter encourages its users to accomplish their goals while increasing their personal resilience.
If you are new to meditation, Headspace is a great guide for how to get started.
Headspace provides a space that allows for its users to relieve stress and become more focused through the simple process of meditation. This app breaks down what can be seen as a complex subject into bite-sized lessons for individuals with a busy schedule.
Headspace’s meditation tracks range from multiple topics, from stress to sleep, and provide exercises in case a user needs help while having a panic attack.
Pacifica is an app that provides tools to help reduce anxiety and release stress in our daily lives.
Features include guided self-help plans, mood tracking, relaxation techniques, a welcoming community and a way to view your progress over time.
Grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy, Pacifica offers a day by day plan for the future in order to help cope with your stress and anxiety.
This is a different app than the rest on this list. Dancing Line is a game focused on music and rhythm in which you guide your cube through the map with only the guidance of the beat of the background music.
True to its nature, the easiest way to play this game is with headphones on, which creates an altogether different experience. It’s like shutting yourself off from the world, which, when days get stressful, this app is a miracle.
Dancing Line goes to prove that almost any app can be a “mental health” app when that tool can help provide stress relief.