Technology has become a part of our everyday lives, that there truly is an app for virtually every need.
As our world speeds up and we become busier, stress has also become a large part of our daily routine. No matter your stress level, there’s probably an app that can help. And while apps don’t take the place of mental health experts, they are a great solution – especially when making an appointment with a professional isn’t an option.
That isn’t the only hindrance to seeking therapy, however. The cost alone can make seeing a therapist impossible for many, but that doesn’t mean you have to neglect your mental health. There are many affordable and effective options that can be loaded directly to your phone.
Check out our list below of some of the best iOS and Android apps out there for relieving stress.
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1. Sanvello
Billed as one of the top apps for combating stress, anxiety, and depression, Sanvello enjoys a rating of 4.7/5 on the App Store and 4.6 on Google Play. Formerly known as Pacifica, Sanvello uses clinically proven methods to support mental health. Created by psychologists, Sanvello offers daily mood tracking complete with reminders and the ability to monitor emotions as well as identify positive and negative influences.
The app’s guided journeys are designed to meet a wide range of needs, offering audio lessons and activities based on cognitive behavioral therapy and other proven methods. Based on your mood data, the app will show you the connections between your experiences, activities, and emotions.
Perhaps the best part of the app, however, is its community of users. You can see what other users are posting from personal strategies to words of encouragement to other users. Not convinced? A study of 500 random people with mild to moderate anxiety and depression revealed that the use of the app decreased their symptoms. And that relief continued even after they ceased their use of Sanvello.
The basic version of the app is free. But, like all things, you get what you pay for. The paid version, which is $8.99 a month, $55 a year or $199 lifetime, offers far more to its users.
2. Happify
This free app offers science-based games and activities to help eliminate stress and negativity. The app can teach you to see the world in a more positive light in just a few minutes a day. It has been found not only to reduce stress, anxiety and negativity but to enhance your self-esteem and confidence. In fact, according to the app’s stats, 86% of regular users “saw happiness improvements” within two months by using the app three to four times a week.
Built by leading psychologists, the activities may seem fun, but serious work helps you strengthen your well-being skills. Those who use the app on a regular basis can continue to develop their “happiness skills.” These happiness skills are the reduction of stress and negativity, the ability to feel better about your life, the elimination of dead-end thinking, boosting self-esteem, improvement of relationships and improvement of eating, and sleeping and movement habits.
The app also offers blog content that focuses on helping people to reduce stress and appreciate what they have.
The app, which has received great reviews from the media and users alike, is available on the App Store and Google Play. If you want more from this app than the freemium version offers, Happify Plus offers additional content for $14.95 per month.
3. eHarmony
While there are no online dating apps that are completely stress-free, eHarmony comes pretty close. That’s because it offers help with that stressful first message. Especially helpful for shy or less confident daters, eHarmony has a number of opening lines for you to choose from if you’re feeling a bit tongue-tied.
It also offers photo verification, so you don’t have to be as worried about being catfished. Its membership base of more than 30 million users combined with its low-pressure approach to online dating makes it a winner for anyone looking to avoid extra stress.
Special features like Carousel can also help relieve the stress of reaching out to someone who may not be into you. This feature enables you to connect with other singles who have actually shown they are interested in you. A mutual match will be created if you and another member both say “yes” to each other. These matches then show up in your Connections.
Even if you don’t have a mutual match, the app’s behavioral matchmaking technology can help connect you with compatible people. It’s one of the highest-rated dating apps out there so you know you’re going to get the best results for your effort.
When you know you’re matched with a like-minded person, that first date isn’t so stressful either. Knowing you’ll be able to easily converse with your match relieves a lot of the pressure, making the experience more enjoyable.
4. Brain.fm
If you enjoy music, this app is worth a try. Brain.fm uses music to “influence cognitive states.” Developed in consultation with experts in the field, the app’s music is generated by artificial intelligence and is combined with neuroscience. The technologically-engineered music was created to lead you into your desired mental state. And it’s never overwhelming because the music is designed to “sit comfortably in the background.”
The main goal of the music is to support you in your daily activities, enabling you to accomplish more and feel more relaxed while doing it. Brain.fm’s patented process is also said to help improve your focus while helping you to relax, sleep and meditate better.
Access to Brain. fm is free for the first five uses after which there is a monthly subscription cost of $6.99. The app is available on the App Store and Google Play.
5. Headspace
If you want to learn how to manage your stress through meditation, this is the app for you. Headspace offers guided meditation sessions. You keep track of your progress in the app, which can be downloaded for free from the App Store or Google Play.
Along with a new meditation exercise, every day is a full library with themed courses, sleep sounds, and bedtime exercises. Although only the first two weeks are free, subscription plans are available starting at $12.99 a month or $69.99 a year. A lifetime subscription, meanwhile, is $399.99.
6. My Fitness Pal
While this app is not a traditional choice for dealing with stress and anxiety, it can still be very effective at helping you to manage both. Nutrition has been found to have a major impact on mood and stress levels, so using an app to help you track what you eat can be part of your plan to improve your overall wellness.
My Fitness Pal, not only enables you to be aware of your eating patterns, it provides articles and recipe ideas for improved health and fitness. Available to iPhone and Android users, it also enables you to track your weight and caloric intake. Free membership provides an online food diary, a searchable food database, a personal food database, support and motivation via discussion forums and a personalized diet profile.
7. Pzizz
If you’re not catching enough Zzzs each night, mood and stress levels can be impacted. If this sounds like you, not to worry. Pzizz can help. This app combines music, sound effects and binaural beats to provide you with a customized sleep soundtrack. Using clinical research, the app’s algorithm plays a unique “dreamscape” each night to quiet your mind and help you fall asleep faster. By constantly creating new dreamscapes for you, the app ensures your brain won’t experience fatigue from hearing the same soundtrack over and over again.
Pzizz is very user-friendly. It allows you to adjust sleep duration, volume, 3D effect and voice gender. As an added bonus, it’s an all-natural way to improve your sleep with none of the side-effects that come with medications or supplements.
Although you can use Pzizz for free, the paid versions offer far more options. It is available on Google Play and the App Store for a yearly fee of $69.99. If you prefer to pay monthly, the cost will be $9.99.
These seven apps are not only easy to use but can also improve your mood and relieve stress, anxiety and even depression. Choose the apps that seem a good fit for your needs and lifestyle and try them. Your body – and your mind – will thank you.
