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Research-informed mental health apps are a great tool for supplementing traditional treatment and promoting mental wellness.
It seems as if there’s an app for everything — from checking your email to watching your favorite shows to even “speaking in dog.”
There are also a seemingly endless number of health apps aimed at helping you track your physical or mental health. But how do you decide which ones are legit?
Just because an app is available doesn’t mean it’s been vetted as being safe and effective for the condition or concern it targets. In fact, most mental health apps are surprisingly not designed in conjunction with a mental health expert. Because of that lack of expertise, some apps may give just plain bad advice.
However, research-informed mental health apps may be different. Some research suggests that they may be a great tool to supplement traditional therapy and to help manage your wellness needs.
If you want to jump directly to the sections for each app, you can click the links below.
Mental health apps are digital tools to help improve your mental health and wellness. While these apps can’t treat or diagnose any conditions, they’re a convenient way to support your mental health journey in addition to therapy or other forms of treatment.
Research suggests that mental health apps can also help better monitor and manage symptoms or disorders. However, while there are many mental health apps available, not all of them are backed by research and may not be as effective as those that are.
A research-informed app is based on techniques that have been researched and found effective, such as:
In some cases, the apps themselves may be backed by scientific research, though it’s important to keep in mind that studies on specific apps are often conducted by researchers with a link to the creators of the app, which may influence results. Also, research on these apps is often preliminary or ongoing, so it may take more time to determine how effective they really are.
Some people use the term “evidence-based” interchangeably with “research-informed,” but generally speaking “evidence-based” refers to rigorous research, and it’s rare that apps have been studied thoroughly and independently. Therefore, it’s often more appropriate to use the phrases “research-informed” or “supported by research.”
We took several factors into account when making our top app picks, including:
Described as “fitness for your mental health,” Moodfit strives to get your mental health in shape. It does this by offering a variety of science-backed tools and activities to guide you on your mental wellness journey, including:
The app helps you establish healthy routines so that you can meet your unique needs. It also tracks your habits, so you can identify patterns and areas for improvement.
Moodfit helps you find what works best to support your unique mental health needs by offering a customizable suite of tools and resources.
Talkspace makes therapy easy, by providing access to licensed mental health professionals right from your phone. The app gives you direct access to a therapist of your choosing, wherever and whenever you need support.
This is a good option for those with busy schedules or who prefer to speak with a therapist from where they feel most comfortable, instead of going to an office.
You can choose to talk, video, or text chat with your therapist, or even schedule a live session at a mutually convenient time.
Research from 2020 indicates that messaging with a therapist via Talkspace helped reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. Another study from 2020 suggests that treatment delivered through text, voice, and video messaging via Talkspace was similarly effective in reducing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as traditional forms of treatment.
Still, it’s good to keep in mind that researchers involved in these studies were connected to Talkspace, which may influence results.
Talkspace offers 24/7 direct access to mental health professionals in a variety of specialties, so you can find the support you need when you need it.
The Headspace app uses mindfulness and meditation tools and resources to help you live a more mindful life. These practices are designed to support your mental well-being by helping relax your mind and establish positive, healthy habits.
Meditation has both mental and physical health benefits. Research shows that it can help:
Plus, many studies have researched the effectiveness of Headspace specifically, though scientists conducting the studies were often connected to the company, which may influence results.
The Headspace app offers a variety of scientifically supported meditation and mindfulness exercises that are known to help reduce stress, relax the mind, and boost focus.
Research shows that deep breathing may help reduce stress, making the iBreathe app a good choice for those looking for a simple way to promote calm.
iBreathe doesn’t have any bells or whistles other than providing several deep breathing exercises, so you can focus on establishing a stress-free breathing practice without distraction.
The app may be simple, but it does allow for a lot of personalization. You have complete control over all of your breathing intervals, with customization options for how long you inhale, exhale, hold, or even cycle through in each exercise. You can also set breathing reminders for yourself throughout the day.
iBreathe focuses solely on offering customizable breathing exercises that help ease stress and promote a sense of calm.
MindShift was created by the nonprofit Anxiety Canada, so this app focuses solely on ways to relieve anxiety. It uses scientifically proven strategies rooted in CBT practices that promote mindfulness and relaxation.
Research shows that CBT is effective for easing symptoms of anxiety and anxiety disorders.
These tools target mindset, helping you reorient your thinking and make positive, lasting changes to make anxiety manageable.
MindShift is free and offers quick relief tools, a community forum, and experiments and exercises to challenge limiting beliefs and overcome fears that cause anxiety.
MindShift uses interactive CBT-based tools and strategies to ease anxiety by helping promote relaxation and mindfulness techniques.
Do you experience insomnia or other sleep problems? CBT-i Coach may help. This app is for anyone with insomnia or who would like to improve their sleep regimen and habits.
CBT-i Coach was a collaborative effort between:
It’s a free app designed to support professional insomnia or sleep disorder treatment (though it can be used on its own!).
Through a structured program, CBT-i Coach helps you learn about sleep while developing your own positive sleep routine.
In a 2016 study , almost 60% of clinicians participating in a survey 2 years after the CBT-i Coach app was released noted that they had used the app with a client and that they felt the app improved homework adherence and treatment outcomes.
Similarly, another 2016 study noted that participants who used the CBT-i Coach app as a supplement to CBT-i treatment experienced significant improvements in sleep and that the app didn’t compromise the benefits of CBT-i therapy. It’s important to know, however, that participants who only received CBT-i treatment without using the app, also reported significant sleep improvements.
CBT-i Coach offers a structured program that uses scientifically proven strategies to help you build better sleep habits to improve and alleviate symptoms of insomnia.
A little fun is almost guaranteed to put a smile on your face. With the Happify app, you participate in games that are not only fun but are backed by science to improve your mood, lower stress levels, and overcome negative thoughts, among other positive benefits.
This app helps you transform your life by allowing you to target a specific mental wellness area that you’d like to improve. Happify focuses on positive emotions to promote meaningful improvement to overall happiness.
Happify offers over 65 tracks to help with:
Happify uses fun, engaging, and science-backed games and activities to help manage stress, practice mindfulness, build confidence, and boost your overall mood.
With capabilities for wellness journaling, setting medication reminders, and even recording your food, the Bearable app goes beyond simply tracking symptoms. The app provides a comprehensive outlook on your overall physical and mental health and wellness.
This may give you a deeper insight into your health, and how factors like different medications, treatments, or triggers may be affecting it. Identifying symptoms related to these factors can help you communicate your health with your doctor, allowing for better engagement and diagnosis.
In one 2021 review study of apps to track symptoms in people with cancer, Bearable was one of the top three highest-scoring apps. While this is encouraging, it’s good to keep in mind that research specifically on whether the app is beneficial for people with mental health conditions is lacking.
Bearable makes tracking symptoms easy so that you can better understand patterns, behaviors, and symptoms and share them with your treatment team.
