Apps can be a great way to have a bit of advice, support or a coping strategy in your pocket when you need it. All of these Apps are also listed in their relevant sections (e.g.under anxiety or self-harm) but we have put them together here in one place for quick reference
Apps for anxiety, sleep, and wellbeing
- Feeling Good and Feeling Good Teens (age 10-15) Apps. Positive mental training – two Apps to help you build your mental strength. Some of the features are free but others can only be unlocked by payment (around £10/yr) NHS Approved.
- ClearFear Well-designed free App with lots of ideas and interaction on coping with worries, emotions or physical symptoms of anxiety. Appealing images, GIFs to make you laugh and lots more!
- Feartools Best for older teens or young adults this features an anxiety test, relaxing music, guided meditation, a thought diary and ideas for activities to help when you’re feeling anxious. Free.
- Equoo App This App helps you develop coping skills while playing adventure games. You can play quite a bit for free to see if you like it but some features are paid for. Designed by psychologists and one of the Apps recommended by the NHS.
- SAM UWE A simple App with breathing exercises, an anxiety tracker and also a nice distraction feature, which is helpful if you’re feeling panicky. The distraction feature involves rubbing over a hazy image with your finger to reveal the picture underneath which can be fun at any age. Free.
- My Possible Self tackle anxiety, stress and unhelpful negative thinking with this App which is best for age 17+ years
- Mindshift Uses relaxation techniques like mindful breathing and positive visualisation to help with anxiety. There is also a section on “Thinking Right” with helpful thoughts which you can select to use instead of your usual negative circular thoughts e.g. if you’re having trouble sleeping. The information is well written but most suitable for young adults or parents.
- Headspace A hugely popular mindfulness and meditation App with adults, this also has a section for children. It’s free for 2 weeks but then you have to pay. However, if you’re a student with a student email, you can sign up at a reduced rate. It’s also free for some teachers.
- Fabulous App is an award-winning App which is partly free but some features such as the coaching messages are paid for. It helps you build healthy habits that stick, and create structure and routine in a step-wise and motivating way.
Apps for low mood and depression
- Headspace for meditation. The student plan is currently reduced by 85%
- Moodtools A free app for managing depression with a mood tracker, videos, meditations and more. A sister App to the popular FearTools for anxiety.
- Tellmi App The Tellmi app allows you to talk anonymously about difficult things with other people of a similar age or experience. You can get help with your problems or use your experiences to help others. The app is a safe space where all posts and replies are checked before going live so there is no harassment, bullying or grooming.
- Catch It Learn how to catch negative thoughts and look at them differently.. With a parent to help this could be used from about age 8yrs
- Stay Alive is an app where you can keep a safety plan and explore ideas on how to stay grounded when you are feeling overwhelmed, try the guided breathing exercises and store photos and memories that are important to you. It links directly to national crisis numbers and you can also store your own emergency numbers.
- Calm Harm An app designed to help reduce the urge to self-harm and is generally useful for helping you cope with extreme emotions as it suggests soothing, distracting, breathing or other activities that you can choose from. Appealing graphics and lots and lots of ideas.
Apps for eating disorders
- Mindshift CBT Uses relaxation techniques like “mindful breathing” and positive visualisation to help with anxiety. There is also a section on “Thinking Right” with helpful thoughts which you can select to use instead of your usual negative circular thoughts.
- Eating Disorder Support App This great App has a huge amount of information, self-help, advice on supporting others, useful links and even a calm zone
- RR (Recovery Record) is a well-thought-out App with a log for how you feel, but also ideas and suggestions for positive thoughts and coping strategies. Set yourself goals and choose coping skills that you think might work for you (click on coping skills, then add to see a selection but you can also add your own). There are guided meditations which you can pair with images of your choice. Based on CBT techniques, you can also share logs with others such as a counsellor
Apps for self-harm or if you are feeling overwhelmed
- Calm Harm is an award-winning App which suggests ideas for when you have the urge to self-harm or if you are struggling with strong emotions. You can add your own ideas too. Click on the name to take a look.
- Distract is good for signposting to other services, and has some self-harm educational information as well as links to Art, Books and Films. “I would often use this when people want a list of useful contacts in an emergency or when distressed and they often forget who to call, as it is all in one place” ( Therapist), “I liked the ideas for music, films and books” (Elsa, 15)
Apps for OCD
- NOCD is an app which helps you to cope when your OCD becomes overwhelming. This app has access to advice from specialist therapists and tackles many different forms of OCD