Depression
Top Apps for Depression
According to a recent CDC study, one in 10 U.S. adults reports depression. Depression can have serious implications on every aspect of a person's life, so it is important to seek treatment if you are suffering from this mental illness. Most treatment plans include talk therapy, medication, or a combination thereof. But for those moments when you can't rely on a healthcare provider or support system, the following 10 apps can help by offering information or a smile when you need it most.
Please note: Healthline Networks does not endorse or warrant for fitness of purpose any of these applications. These apps have not been evaluated for medical accuracy by Healthline Networks and unless otherwise indicated, haven’t been approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA).
Depression CBT Self-Help Guide
Android - 4.5 stars with 65 ratings - Free
Stress is a normal part of life. But most doctors agree that if we don't cope with life's stress, it can certainly contribute to feelings of depression. That's why it's important to learn to control it.
Enter Depression CBT Self-Help Guide. This comprehensive app contains a screening test to track and monitor the severity of your depression, articles and audio recordings about clinical depression and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), several suggestions for how to remain positive and inspired, a cognitive thought diary, and emotion training and relaxation audio recordings to help you challenge stressful thinking.
Positive Thinking
Android - 4.3 stars with 235 ratings - 100K–500K installs in the last 30 days - Free
You've heard about the power of positive thinking. But did you know that it can help you get through some of life's most trying moments?
If you're suffering from depression, then the Positive Thinking App can help you. There are great quotes to inspire you and guide you, and once your mood lifts, you can even share your own sunny sayings with a large community of folks also struggling with depression and brighten someone else's day.
depressioncheck
iPhone - 4 stars with 830 ratings - Free
Do you know your M3 score? What's more do you know what M3 even means? If you suspect that you're suffering from depression, you should acquaint yourself with this test immediately.
Depressioncheck is an app that brings this test directly to your smartphone. This medically-backed screener takes just three minutes to complete and can tell you whether you're suffering from depression (along with bipolar disorder, anxiety, and PTSD) and how severe your particular case is. Once you have your results, you'll have vital information to share with your healthcare professional.
Pain & Depression Relief
iPhone - 4 stars with 28 ratings - $0.99
Android - 3.9 stars with 16 ratings - $1.99
According to a recent study published in the Journal of Behavioral Sleep Medicine, insomnia can actually precede or prolong depression.
That's why sleep is paramount, especially if you're suffering from depression. Enter AmbiScience™'s Pain & Depression Relief app. This ambient electronica app is combined with frequency-tuning to help you get a good night's sleep. Choose the frequency that works for you, and the tones will lull you to sleep through a process known as binaural (two tones at a time) or isochronics (one tone) entrainment.
Depression Inventory
Android - 3.6 stars with 42 ratings - 10K–50K in the last 30 days - Free
Taking inventory is an important step during every lifestage. If you're depressed this kind of exercise can prove invaluable for you and your mental health provider.
Depression Inventory is an app that enables you to do this quickly and easily. Use this test on a weekly basis to track your history of depression and see how your symptoms have changed over time. Significant changes of five or more points can help your doctor notice trends and make appropriate amendments to your treatment plan.
STAT Depression Screening PHQ-9
iPhone - 3 stars with 1912 ratings - Free
Wonder if you have depression but haven't been to the psychiatrist to be officially diagnosed? Then you might start by checking out STAT Depression Screening PHQ-9.
Based directly on the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), the PHQ-9 is the nine-item depression scale of the Patient Health Questionnaire. This potent, educational tool for diagnosing depression by assessing symptoms and functional impairment also generates a severity score, which helps in selecting and monitoring your treatment.
Psych Drugs
iPhone - 3 stars with 4668 ratings - Free
Doctors can advise you on which drugs to take, but different anti-depressants work differently on each individual patient. That's why it's important to do your own research, as well. Why waste time with Internet searches when Psych Drugs conveniently brings all this information directly to your phone?
Quickly search for and learn about antidepressants such as SSRIs, TCAs, and MAOIs. Get generic and brand names of popular medications as well as indications, dosage information, and the all-important list of side effects. This information will help you learn about medications and spur questions to ask your doctor.
NIH Depression Information
Android - 4.1 stars with 16 ratings - Free
Part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is the nation’s medical research agency. If you're suffering from depression, you'll want to make use of their resources.
NIH Depression Information is an app that brings their comprehensive library of depression information to your smartphone. You'll find information on symptoms, causes, diagnosis, and treatments, plus a section on how to seek help for depression, which can guide those with depression as well as caregivers.
Moody Me - Mood Diary and Tracker
iPhone - 3 stars with 704 ratings - Free
Created by powerhouses MedHelp and GE Healthymagination, the Moody Me mood tracker app aims to eliminate the negative by accentuating the positive.
Other than standard disposition tracking features such as recording mood-altering moments, and colorful graphs that track your frame of mind daily, monthly, and even triannually. Other added benefits include posting questions and getting answers from MedHelp’s support communities and data syncing between your app and any computer.
Thunderstorm Sleep sound
Android - 3.9 stars with 840 ratings - Free
iPhone - 3 stars with 205 ratings - Free
The Thunderstorm Sleep sound app brings the sound of thunder and much more to your smartphone to help you sleep.
Depression is often worse at night, so if it's keeping you from getting much needed sleep, just close your eyes, put in your headphones, start the app, and let your imagination run rampant. You might even dream that you're in a beautiful hotel room overlooking the water in Honolulu, during an invigorating thunder storm. Now what's more relaxing than that?
Try One of the Depression Apps
According to a recent CDC study, only 25 percent of adults with mental health symptoms believed that others are caring and sympathetic to those with mental illness. For this reason, many depression sufferers are not reaching out for help.
That makes the 10 aforementioned apps an important tool to connect depression sufferers—without the will to reach out—with treatments. A recent European study has even demonstrated that smartphone apps can have therapeutic effects on depressed individuals, which is particularly good news for uninsured or underinsured folks.
Methodology
We selected these depression apps based on their potential to aid people with depression and their loved ones in a number of ways. Additional factors considered in selecting these apps included: user ratings, affordability, accessibility, format, functionality, and relevance to depression and its community's needs. Together, this collection represents the gamut of helpful iPhone and Android apps that are successfully designed to make life with depression more manageable.
