A Helping Hand

Mental health and mindfulness apps are trending, but should you be adding them to your phone? Bonnie Vaughan asks an expert what you need to know, and which are the best apps on the market.

- 

Like Uber and emojis, apps are a way of life right now. You use them to do your banking, track your fitness, tweak your selfies,order your coffee, switch on your lights… the list goes on. So it’s hardly surprising that more and more people are going digital to deal with stress, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues – in fact, Apple identified mental health and mindfulness apps as one of the breakout app trends of 2017.

With options increasing to meet demand, and literally thousands of apps to choose from, how do you know which one is best for you?

A study led by Australian researchers last year found that smartphone apps can be an effective treatment option for depression; but of course you need to be far more strategic when choosing an app for your mental health than, say, picking one to help you find killer retail bargains.

“Out of the 10,000 mental health apps that are available out there, only around one percent have been professionally evaluated,” points out Professor Helen Christensen, director and chief scientist at the Black Dog Institute, who participated in the study.

“Often, people don’t know what they’re signing up for. You have to remember this technology is still very new.”

To help you navigate the maze, we asked Helen to break down the steps you should take when choosing which mental health app may be right for you.