Bipolar Disorder
10 Best Apps for Bipolar Disorder
According to recent studies published on the National Institute of Mental Health website, bipolar disorder affects approximately 5.7 million American adults, or about 2.6 percent of the U.S. population, annually. For those moments when you need to reach out, but are having a hard time connecting to your support network, the following apps can lend themselves to a self-containing experience.
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).
iMoodJournal
iPhone - 4.5 stars with 119 ratings - $4.99
This visually stunning app with cheery graphics takes the mood diary one step further. Sure, you can create notes and recognize time-based feeling patterns on summary charts. But it one-ups some of the competing apps by offering reminders to record your dispositions at designated times and an interactive, animated mood chart. You can also hashtag your emotions, medication, and sleep, so that you can spot triggers and discover how your moods change over a longer period of time.
Since pictures are worth a thousand words, you can save time by taking self-portraits with each attitude shift, so that you can see how your mood affects your appearance. When you're done tracking, you can share your temperament with friends on Facebook, in addition to your mental health provider.
Bipolar Disorder Uncovered
Android - 4 stars with 100-500 installs - $1.36
Bipolar disorder is far more complicated than manic and depressive. With all the mystifying medical information online, the mood disorder can seem even more overwhelming to the newly diagnosed. Let the Bipolar Disorder Uncovered app be your go-to guide for everything you need to know about bipolar disorder, but didn't know to ask.
You'll discover the causes and signs of this mood disorder, when to seek help, types of treatments available, including medications and psychotherapy, what hinders recovery such as drug and alcohol abuse, how to choose a support group, and how to turn bipolar disorder into a character strength.
Mood Tracker: By The Cheryl T. Herman Foundation
iPhone - 4.5 stars with 110 ratings - Free
Other than standard daily charting to monitor your dispositions, stressors, sleep behavior, and treatment response, Mood Tracker, like a good therapist, allows even those who might not be the most forthcoming to share their feelings through evidence-based questions. This information is used to chart moods and behaviors, and can later be emailed to your mental health professionals.
Backed by The Cheryl T. Herman Foundation the CTH Mood Tracker also gives you unprecedented access to tools and resources that similar apps just cannot offer, such as a psychiatric video library that addresses many common questions associated with mood disorders, along with audio relaxations and tension-taming meditations.
eMoods Bipolar Mood Tracker
Android - 4.2 stars for 50K-100K installs in last 30 days - Free
You may note your ever-changing moods in the moment, but do you remember how you felt on the second Tuesday of last month? Probably not. That’s why it's important to track your mind states with eMoods Bipolar Mood Tracker.
With this app, you can track your manic and depressive episodes (highlighting extreme symptoms), up to 11 medications, and your current sleep cycle with long, exhaustive notes. At the end of the month, you can email a printable graph chart to your mental health professionals.
T2 Mood Tracker
iPhone - 4 stars with 91 ratings - Free
Android - 4.3 stars with 10K-50K installs in last 30 days - Free
No you're not Terminator 2, because your moods actually vary. Track them with T2 Mood Tracker. This app allows users to monitor their states of mind on six pre-loaded scales such as anxiety and depression, but custom scales can also be built.
Users easily measure their temperaments by swiping a small bar from left to right, along with notes of daily dramas, medication changes, and other treatments that impact dispositions. The ratings are then converted to graphs to help users track their spirits over time, which help mental health professionals with future treatment decisions.
Bipolar Bear
iPhone - 3 stars with 29 reviews - $0.99
No, this moody mammal isn't as frightening as it sounds. In fact, this cute and cuddly cartoon bear, whose attitudes range from cheery and optimistic to annoyed and negative, aims to help bipolar patients learn to laugh at the myriad feelings they face in a day. Cycling through random statements, each evincing a different disposition, the bear helps the bipolar patient feel less alone in their mood shifts.
Although this app has a lighthearted tone, developers designed it to bring awareness to the serious issues those with bipolar disorder face. Even better, 30 percent of the purchase price goes to a non-profit organization serving those with bipolar disorder.
Bipolar Disorder Connect
Android - 3.5 stars with 500 – 1K installs
iPhone - 4.5 stars with 41 ratings
It's common for a bipolar sufferer to feel isolated, particularly during depressive episodes. So why not get in touch with a large bipolar community, dealing with the same issues as you?
With Bipolar Disorder Connect, the social site for bipolar sufferers, you can follow discussions by pressing the star button, ask questions, and add comments to others' posts. Take advantage of this supportive forum to share experiences, support each other, and discover treatments. Make friends with the "Connect" button, message friends to stay connected, and post status updates so your friends know how you're doing. If you're not feeling social, you can just follow activity feeds and easily uncover important information through categories and sorting.
Optimism
iPhone - 3 stars with 256 reviews - Free
Optimism is something we can all use a bit more of. But particularly for bipolar sufferers, who may endure brutal periods of depression, a positive outlook can be the least common temperament. Enter Optimism, a charting app that helps you develop strategies for managing your bipolar disorder.
The app helps you develop and monitor health plans, discover the triggers of and recognize warning signs for declining mental health, through comprehensive charts and reports that can be shared with your mental health provider.
Moody Me
iPhone - 3 stars with 702 ratings - Free
Created by powerhouses MedHelp and GE Healthymagination, the Moody Me mood tracker app aims to eliminate the negative by accentuating the positive. Take pictures of what makes you happy, so it's at the ready in bliss-boosting slideshows to lift your spirits on those gloomy days. Or see what makes you sad so you can avoid it.
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.
Mood Journal Plus
iPhone - 3 stars with 92 ratings - $6.99
Growing up, journaling your highs and lows and going back and rereading them, always made you feel better. Today tracking your moods is part of your mental health plan.
Approved by mental health professionals, Mood Journal Plus is an app with which to do it. Track and view your progress, identify trends in reports, sync it all with an accompanying web portal for easy printing, de-stress with audio tracks and connect with a vibrant online community, available to support you.
Stay Cheerful!
According to the ongoing, NIMH-supported, Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD) study, about half of participants whose moods improved through treatment, still reported lingering symptoms. True, bipolar disorder is a life-altering diagnosis, but it doesn't mean that your life is over. Did you know that several studies have shown that those with bipolar disorder are blessed with increased creativity or that another study has identified genetic variants linked to the brain's signaling pathways as a cause for bipolar disorder.
You would already know all of this if you kept on top of this mood disorder. The more you know about this diagnosis the less fearful it'll seem, and the better your quality of life will be. So stay in touch with your mental health professionals, check out a few of these apps, and get the better of your bipolar disorder.
Methodology
We selected these bipolar disorder apps based on their potential to aid people with bipolar disorder 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 bipolar disorder 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 bipolar disorder more manageable.
