It’s a shame that some people in today’s society have yet to understand the importance of mental health. They push themselves to achieve their goals relentlessly, sometimes at the cost of sleep, a regular diet, and a healthy social life. While it may be necessary to make some sacrifices once in a while, one should still take care of their mental and physical health whenever they can.

Thankfully, mental health awareness has been increasing in recent years. During this COVID period that can prove to be isolating for many, it is even more important for us to take the time to reflect on our emotional and mental health. It is also the perfect time to slow down, take a step back from our fast-paced lives, and rest.

For Journalling and Tracking Your Mental Health

1.  Reflexio

Reflexio is a diary and mood tracker app. You basically pen your thoughts down on a day-to-day basis, and the app tracks your mood based on what you tell it. Since there’s a password lock that can be enabled, feel free to talk about private things that you don’t want anyone else to know. It will stay just between you and Reflexio!

Upon loading it, you will see the screen above. Every day, the app will provide one question related to mental health for you to reflect on. It’s a good way to get to know yourself better too!

Besides this daily question feature, the app also has a diary feature as mentioned. As seen above, this is the user interface after you key in your diary entry. You will be asked about the emotions you felt that day and what activities you took part in.

These features are useful for the application to track and display your statistics. Based on the words you use in your diary entries, Reflexio will output a word cloud that shows you the frequency of the words you use.

For Meditation, Relaxation, and Sleep

2.  Headspace

Headspace is an app that provides guided meditation exercises for relaxation and sleep. It also provides guided workouts for stress relief. This app is perfect for shaking off that anxiety and those worrying thoughts.

The dashboard is a timeline of your day which is split into morning, afternoon, and evening. There will be different activities in store for you for each section. Some are guided meditations, while others are podcasts or videos. The goal for all of them is the same though; that is to keep you calm and focused throughout your day.

The menu buttons at the bottom also let you select a specific goal you have, whether it’s to meditate, fall asleep, or work out. As seen above, there’s a relaxing playlist with tracks of rain and white noise to help you fall asleep.

Headspace is a great app with a nice design, but most of the content is paywalled and you will have to subscribe to their membership to access them. While you definitely benefit without paying any money, the app guarantees a much more immersive experience if you do.

For Counselling and Therapy

3.  7 Cups

7 Cups is an app that provides free support and online therapy to people who need it. They will be connected to trained listeners who can lend an ear and work through their problems with them. All conversations are strictly anonymous and confidential.

As seen above, the home page shows you three options from the get-go. You have the “Chat” feature, the “Community” feature, and the “Path” feature. The first option is what you press if you’d like to talk to someone about your problems. If you’d like to make friends and get support from the community, you can choose the second option. The last option will bring you to several guided activities to be done in order. They’re meant to help you relax and understand your mental health.

If you’re considering therapy, you can press on the question at the bottom and it will take you to a page where you can fill up a form. It will cost you $150 per month to chat with a licensed psychologist who can help you. This is actually pretty affordable as many offline therapy sessions can cost $100 or more for just one session.

This screen is what you see if you press on the “Chat” option. In their profile, every listener has a “Supported Issues” section which states what they have gone through and what they’ll be able to help you with. If you’re looking for a listener, the best way to approach this is to find one who has experience dealing with the same problems you’re facing.

The community feature can also be pretty useful for those who want to be supported by a larger community. You can pose questions or simply talk about life here. There are also various groups that you can join, so join one that will be the most helpful for you!

Conclusion

Hopefully, you’ve been taking good care of your mental health! Feel free to make use of the resources I’ve shared. If we spend more effort caring for ourselves and ensuring our needs are met, we can definitely all have healthier, happier, and less stressful lives!