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Apps for Support (Part 2 – Depression)

Your Mental Restoration

Piggybacking on my last post, if you feel that depression is overwhelming you and you aren’t sure where to turn, I encourage you to check out these apps to boost your mood and keep you focused on forward movement. 

               Depression CBT Self-Help Guide – Comprehensive depression treatment app that provides audio (relaxation, emotional training and mindfulness), educational articles, thought training, diary section and coping skills.

               Inspirational Quotes Free – Pretty straightforward; the pleasant surprise comes in the artistic way the quotes are presented.  Easy to share the quotes on social networking. 

               Secret of Happiness – 30 Challenge to improve outlook.  This free-spirited app has prompting questions about your goals and what you are grateful for each day.  Very easy to use.

               Virtual Hopebox – The “remind me” section allows you to upload personal photos, voice memos, songs and/or videos as a reminder of more pleasant things.  The “distract me” section lets you play word and number games or puzzles from the pictures you uploaded.  The “inspire me” section provides an array of uplifting quotes.  My favorite section is the “relax me” section which offers guided meditations, muscle relaxation and breathing audio.  Lastly the “coping skills” section reminds you to schedule pleasant activities into your week, add accountability partners and set reminders (it will sync to your calendar).  

Mindfulness – Straight forward application, offers guided mindfulness exercises, timers and education related to the reasoning behind and benefits of mindfulness practice.

What apps do you use to combat depressive symptoms? Share with below so we can all check them out!

Inspiration

Apps for Support (Part 1 – Anxiety)

Your Mental Restoration

Anxiety encompasses several diagnoses: panic disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety, and social anxiety to name a few.  I may be a bit behind the times on this topic; however I am grateful to have recently discovered that there are many Apple and Android Apps aimed at helping those suffering from mental health difficulties.  I took it upon myself to download and explore many of them and thought that I would share my top picks with you all! All of these apps are free on Android.  Let’s first take a look at apps that target anxiety:

Virtual Hopebox – The “remind me” section allows you to upload personal photos, voice memos, songs and/or videos as a reminder of more pleasant things.  The “distract me” section lets you play word and number games or puzzles from the pictures you uploaded.  The “inspire me” section provides an array of uplifting quotes.  My favorite section is the “relax me” section which offers guided meditations, muscle relaxation and breathing audio.  Lastly the “coping skills” section reminds you to schedule pleasant activities into your week, add accountability partners and set reminders (it will sync to your calendar).

Relax Melodies- 16 relaxing sounds that can even be combined to find your signature sound.

Breathe 2 Relax – This is a fantastic app for paced breathing.  It allows you to set the length of inhales and exhales and offers great verbal assistance to breathe through your anxiety.

Stop Panic & Anxiety – This is a comprehensive anxiety treatment app.  It offers educational articles, coping skill lists, audio (relaxation, mindfulness and emotional training help) and diary tracking.

Self Help Anxiety Management (SAM)– Very user friendly and comprehensive anxiety treatment app.  Offers immediate audio assistance to work though panic, an anxiety diary, encouragement, psychoeducation, and a social network piece.

Mindfulness – Straight forward application, offers guided mindfulness exercises, timers and education related to the reasoning behind and benefits of mindfulness practice.

 

What apps do you use to decrease anxiety? I’d love to hear about them!!