Mental Health & Wellness Apps for a Happier Home Screen

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Welcome to the Weekly Well-Being Connection! Each week we will share advice from our clinical experts on ways to care for your mental health and well-being throughout COVID-19. 

Many thanks to Colorado Spirit team member, Ally Burdick, for writing this week’s post.

Each May millions join the national movement of recognizing Mental Health Awareness Month by raising awareness about mental health. This year, the Colorado Spirit Team at AllHealth Network further reflects on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on all of our mental health. If you were at all familiar with mental health and wellness services prior to the pandemic, then you may be aware that COVID-19 required the field to shift to online intervention. The face-to-face aspect of mental health services provides several benefits, however a new wave of mental health support has blossomed virtually. App designers and mental health professionals have found creative ways to bring mental health techniques, exercises, and education to your fingertips.

While having resources and techniques on hand proves beneficial for many, we do want to acknowledge that there is a glass ceiling to using these apps. We do not recommend using these apps in replacement of professional services. However, one advantage to exploring different apps and exercises online is the ability to try new techniques and explore new avenues within mental health. For example, some of the apps we discuss below have features that help you track your mood. Tracking this might not be something that was previously in your day-to-day routine, but having an app at your ready when you’re either at home or on the go could allow you to try the technique and see how it may help.

In addition to mood tracking, the apps below contain a wide range of resources and features that help tackle mental health and wellness. Other features include tracking your progress, identifying triggers, promoting a healthy lifestyle and body image, exploring self-awareness, and so much more. Exploring these apps on your own can increase your general knowledge about mental health and add to your concepts and techniques. The apps below are all free to IOS and Android users. This is not an exhaustive list of all the mental health apps out there, but these are a few our team has explored and used.

  • COVID Coach – initially created by the Veteran’s Administration specifically for the pandemic it allows users to learn more about mental health overall and about COVID specific regulations and struggles.
  • eMoods – helpful for tracking mood, symptoms, and even triggers in order to better understand what you are feeling and how it may affect you during your day to day.
  • Lifesum – helpful for overall healthy living by setting personal goals such as eating healthier and building muscle, and drinking water regularly.
  • Quit that! – helpful for tracking habits and gives guidance on how to help kick those habits you may be monitoring, as well as tracking periods of sobriety and/or abstinence.
  • Recovery Road – designed to not only help track eating and emotions, but contains ongoing questionnaires regarding any progress made to better learn how to assist.
  • Twenty Four Hours a Day – offers over 365 meditations and exercises born from the bestselling book of the same name, designed to assist people recovering from addiction and focusing on sobriety.
  • Happify – helpful for tracking your mood with various game suggestions and gratitude prompts to help reframe negative thoughts.
  • MindShift – originally designed for teens and young adults to help combat the daily struggles of anxiety, it is often referred to as a “pocket cheerleader”.
  • MyStrength – uses CBT, mindfulness, positive psychology and motivational interviewing to help with overall mental health. (For free access to this resource’s pandemic related supports, use this link from the Colorado Spirit team at AllHealth Network)

Overall, we hope to encourage others out there to not only explore what these apps have to offer, but hopefully to take the first step in understanding mental health as a whole and sifting through the abundance of available knowledge and psychoeducation.

Would speaking to someone help?

To speak with someone in the Colorado Spirit Program about stress related to the pandemic, please call 720-707-6789 or visit our web page at www.allhealthnetwork.org/Colorado-Spirit

For information about other services at AllHealth Network or to get connected with ongoing behavioral health support, please call: 303-730-8858.

AllHealth Network is continuing to provide service via telehealth or by phone and our Crisis Walk-in Center remains open 24/7. To learn more about what other community mental health centers are doing, please visit The Colorado Behavioral Health Council COVID-19 website.

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis and are in need of immediate assistance, please call the Colorado Crisis Hotline at 1-844-493-TALK (8255) or text TALK to 38255.

Resource links

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