Let’sTalk - Mental health apps
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Would you like to use a health app, but there are too many choices? Are you wondering whether health apps are really effective in helping to treat the symptoms of depression? Not sure how to find the app that best suits your needs?
AppGuide and its team of experts are there for you!
On this mental health awareness day, we want to support you in your decision to use a health app.
Depression, you ask?
An estimated one in five Canadians experience a mental health problem in any given year. One in two Canadians has suffered or is suffering from a mental health problem before the age of 40.
Depression is the most common mental illness, affecting nearly 300 million people worldwide according to the World Health Organization, and can cause feelings of sadness, hopelessness, loss of interest in activities, sleep problems and fatigue. Depression can also lead to physical problems such as headaches and gastrointestinal problems.
It is associated with a significant decrease in quality of life and an increased risk of certain diseases, including coronary heart disease.
While there is no perfect solution for managing depression, there are many tools that can help.
What are some of the options to help depression?
There are many different treatment options available for people with depression. These can include medication, therapy, and self-care strategies.
Medication can be an effective way to manage the symptoms of depression. However, it's important to work with a mental health professional to find the right medication and dosage for you.
Therapy can also be an effective treatment for depression. It can help you understand your thoughts and emotions, develop healthy coping skills, and improve your relationships.
Self-care strategies such as exercise, relaxation and breathing techniques, and journaling can also help improve your mood.
In fact, exercise is now recognized as a full-fledged treatment for depression, comparable in effectiveness to drug and psychotherapy.
How apps can help the non pharmacological treatment of depression
Among the tools found in apps for people with depressive symptoms are mood tracking, sleep assessment and stress level monitoring. Other popular and proven tools include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) exercises, relaxation and/or breathing techniques, and meditation practices. Finally, other apps connect users to support groups or mental health professionals.
Daylio is a micro-diary app that helps you track your mood and activities. It has a beautiful design and is extremely simple to use. You can add activities you've done during the day and rate your mood. Daylio also has a built-in calendar and statistics so you can see patterns in your behavior.
Mon Sherpa is a chatbot that helps people with depression by providing a personalized program of exercises and activities. The app also includes a tracking feature to help users monitor their progress and see how they are doing over time. As of now, only French language is available.
Petit BamBou is a mindfulness and meditation app that helps people with depression by teaching them simple, practical techniques alongside certified and experienced instructors. The app offers a wide range of free content, accessible to all with no requirement to subscribe, as well as more than 2000 themed meditation sessions focusing on topics such as sleep, stress, and self-confidence.
Headspace is a great app for people suffering from depression. It offers a variety of guided meditations and mindfulness exercises to help users relax, manage stress, and focus their energy. The app also includes a sleep meditation feature to help users get a good night's sleep.
Woebot is a chatbot app that helps people with depression by providing step-by-step guidance based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). In a clinical trial involving 400 participants, Woebot users showed a 32% reduction in depression and a 38% reduction in anxiety after just four weeks.
Help to “get better”
These and other apps can help relieve the symptoms of depression. They offer a range of features that can help improve mood.
While there is no one-size-fits-all solution for managing depression, apps can be of benefit to their users. They can play a significant role in a comprehensive treatment plan that may include pharmacotherapy, individual or group therapy with a professional, and self-care techniques or strategies.
Your health care professional can help you choose
Feeling confident is important. Get all the essential information about health apps by talking to your healthcare professional.
AppGuide provides reliable information about mobile health apps that allows patients and healthcare professionals to make informed, shared decisions about using a health app to track health status or act on your priority health goals.