Technology, especially social media is referred to as one of the primary causes of mental illness nowadays. It is criticized most of the time for worsening the mental health people across the globe. So, how can mental health mobile apps help you in bettering your overall mental health?
If you are not one of them who gets affected by what is going on in the social media domain or your mental health is not affected by screen-time, then mental health apps can be used along with treatment to better the situation.
Around 39 percent of the people in the UK are suffering from mental illness, stress, anxiety disorder or other forms of mental health issues.
Experts are of the opinion that by using certain tools and applications for managing their stress levels reduces anxiety and has a more positive impact on the mental wellbeing of the individual.
NHS has started a new service of Apps Library which has various apps and tools mainly for positively influencing the mental health of its users.
It is a strategy of the NHS to promote a productive outlook on mental health and work towards gaining traction to include more and more people in its circle.
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If you are not trying to cut off with your phone or if you do not get affected by scrolling down the social media posts of your friends having a gala time at some exotic location,
Then here are eleven mental health apps to help you in your mental well-being in UK.
1) Moodrise
This is one of the newest applications for creating mental well-being by taking care of your mood and mind. It is referred to as ‘digital nutrition” where the content of these apps has been created to provide a better experience to the brain. It -helps reduce pain and increase your emotional resilience.
- The application primarily focuses on the different state of mind/ mood which includes happiness, confidence and focuses as the fundamentals.
- It also directed to take care of the other neurotransmitters in the brain that lead to mood change.
- The content on this application is created for delivering such chemical reactions in the brain that would lead to happiness, confidence and make the individual more focused. *
- All these are backed by scientific research. The content is often termed as “digital pills” to enhance mental health and build up emotional strength.
2) EleFriends
This is an online community which is created by Mental Health Charity Mind to support people suffering from mental health issues. This is a platform where one can share their thoughts, difficulties and that too without any fear.
People suffering from these issues need to be heard and this platform caters to all of the primary needs. The features of the platform are:
- You can read posts uploaded on the community offline
- The platform is password protected
- You can share photos on the platform via your device
- Posts updates
- Set up your notification alerts
- Moderated by the admins from 10am to midnight.
3) Echo
When a person has an anxiety disorder, he or she does not want to think about the issue after the phase is over.
This also includes missing medicines knowingly or unknowingly which can possibly worsen the individual’s mental health condition and aggravate anxiety disorder.
- To take care of this situation, the application ‘Echo’ has been developed which is a ‘prescription app’ that reminds the user of the timing of taking their medicines.
- Even if the patient forgets about the time of taking the medicine after having an anxiety attack, this app helps him or her remember the same.
- There are different alerts which can be set to remind you of the timing of taking the medicines.
4) Headspace
This is one of the most popular mental health apps in the UK at present where you will find various resources like articles, guides on meditation, animated videos and other videos on how to de-stress yourself.
If you are new to meditation, this application is just right for you.
- It has a structured approach starting from basic to advanced level guides for meditating which creates an environment of calmness in you.
- This application is also simple to use and the language used in the application for the resources is very easy to understand.
- The application is not free and comes with a monthly charge of 9.99 GBP. Alternatively, you go for an annual subscription which reduces the monthly charges to 5.99 GBP.
5) Drugstars
Have you ever thought that by taking medicines on time you can help other patients too? If not, then this app is making such distant and never-thought dreams possible.
Yes, with this application on your phone, whenever you take the medicine right at the time as prescribed by your doctor
- you earn stars
- These stars can get converted into real money when you donate them to some charities in the United Kingdom like No Panic which works for people having anxiety disorders and also to Crohns & Colitis UK which is a centre for treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases
- This application alerts you when you need to take your medicine and once you take it, you earn stars.
6) Calm
This is an application which is great for sleep and guided meditation for bettering your mental health. Sleep is one of the most important things that a person with certain mental issues, need to have.
This application has guides about meditation to reduce anxiety and stress level in the body.
- This helps the individuals to get a peaceful night’s sleep.
- The application is one step ahead and also has various audio clips, stories to make you fall asleep easily.
- In addition to stories, the app has a library of music tones; tracks which are soothing to the ear and make you fall asleep quickly.
- This application also has podcast facilities where experts from different parts of the world talk about meditation and mental wellbeing.
- There are videos for simple stretching activities to make your body fitter and flexible.
- The application is not free and the price that you need to pay for the same is 34.99 GBP/ year.
Read Also: Growing Prevalence of Healthcare Mobile Apps in UK
7) Tomo
Talking to someone is really important when one has a mental health issue. But finding the right person who has the time to hear you out is difficult in today’s time.
So, Tomo which is a CHAT-BOT can help you break the monotony.
- You can talk to Tomo and it understands and learns about your lifestyle and also understands how to handle challenges.
- Then it offers new solutions, health tips, and lifestyle habits to make your life better.
- If you are able to indulge yourself in the new lifestyle and habit, then take a photo of your achievement and post it in the chat community.
- You will receive a lot of motivation to go forward from the community itself.
- Here, you can be anonymous and there is no such pressure like you feel on social media.
8) Waking Up
This is a complete meditation app where you will be able to join Sam Harris who is an expert in meditation and has been practising the same for over thirty years.
He is also a PhD holder in neuroscience.
- The application takes you through a fifty-day introductory course at the beginning and then you get to join the regular – daily meditation program.
- This is regarded as one of the most useful meditating apps and helps the app users to achieve their goals in slow but steady steps.
- This application comes for 49.99 GBP per year or 6.49 GBP per month.
9) HealthUnlocked Communities
Often people with mental illness are ill-treated and misunderstood. This is because their thinking process gets disturbed at times.
They may not be able to make themselves coherently understandable to others.
- This application provides a platform for people with similar issues to connect and share their individual stories and experiences and meet each other and have healthy social interactions.
- This is really important as a person with mental illness should not feel deprived of society.
- If he or she is completely cut off from society, then it will only worsen the situation.
- There are charities and mental health organizations that monitor this application and the communities in it. You can find this application on the App Store.
10) Pacifica
NHS CBT therapist, Joseph Croft recommends this application for users to improve their mental well-being. The app is free to download. Users can browse through the application to help reduce their stress levels, reduce anxiety and achieve an overall calmness.
It also helps in dealing with depression.
- There are tools and resources in this app which users need for the same purpose.
- The application is based on the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and also on mindfulness meditation.
- This application helps in tracking your mood which results in a better treatment outcome.
11) Mindscape
It is a new mental well-being application which has been created and launched by Creative Agency Cult in 2018.
The application uses a super-advanced technology-based application with artificial intelligence, voice technology, and science-based music therapy to provide calmness and peace to your brain.
- This application has been developed by taking suggestions from consultants in Mind – which is a mental health charity organization to deal with the people having panic and anxiety attacks.
- There are breathing exercises with the help of voice tool, monitoring of sleep, mood to track the changes in behaviour and treat the patient accordingly.
12) Moodpath
It is an application for depression and anxiety management.
The features of this application are:
- It has a series of questions and answers to make you more aware of the emotions that you go through.
- This application can generate a report of the mental state that you are in after collecting the answers from you for fourteen days; this report can be discussed with the medical practitioner.
- There are videos and exercise guides available on the application for your use.
13) 7 Cups
The name of the application may sound weird but the application is one of the most effective applications for depression and anxiety management at present in the United Kingdom.
Its features include:
- There are therapists on this platform that can listen and guide you.
- There are more than lakhs of the listeners to whom you can simply speak whenever you are upset.
- There are support chat rooms and Guided discussion groups.
Conclusion
These are the top mental health apps that are currently trending in the UK markets. Experts wholeheartedly believe that these applications are a credible form of alternative treatment for those undergoing mental health therapies.