Shift Your Mind -- a Mental Health App

Abstract

This paper is a literature review about the new and upcoming world of mental health apps. Our current world is surrounded by mental health challenges, many of which are being heightened because o the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As many would say, our world is in a mental health crisis. Yet, we do not have the readily available resources to handle it. There are numerous barriers to mental health care including financial challenges, lack of insurance, social stigmas, underreporting symptoms, lack of accessibility, transportation issues, the list continues. This leaves so many people without services. Getting access to mental health care has become a privilege rather than a right. But with our lives revolving around technology, we are now seeing a way to get around these barriers, mental health apps. To establish whether or not mental health apps are truly beneficial to the users we have to delve into dissecting the apps available to the public. These mental health apps allow users to access an aspect on mental health care from their fingertips, they empower the user and allow self-determination in the user's care, and it can be a steppingstone to further mental health interventions. But many of these benefits are outweighed by the limitations. Some limitations include that many of these apps are not created by mental health professionals, they lack consistency in engagement abilities, they are not evidence based or tested properly, and most are not regulated. This research has given us the ability to find what necessary aspects are needed for a mental health app. These aspects include, 1) being cognitively based, 2) made for everyone, 3) contain aspects to report thoughts, feelings and behaviors, 4) reminders, 5) recommended activities, 6)links to crisis support and mental health providers, 7)gamifications, 8)guaranteeing the app is evidence based and experimentally tested for efficacy. There is a growing demand for mental health apps that are beneficial to many users and are accessible to all. If we aren't able to lessen the barriers to care, we need to become creative and proactive in how we deliver services. Not everyone may be able to have access to in-person care, but they more than likely can have access to a mental health app.