Six free apps that will improve your mental wellness

With thousands of free applications available on our devices, mental health care has become so much more convenient and accessible to everyone.

Available for free, these apps are changing the way people receive mental health care in the digital era. 

Here are six apps that can help improve your mental well-being.

CARA Unmask is a Singapore-based mental health wellness service co-founded by Bernard Ang. 

The app’s features include access to CARA therapists, and a community to share their thoughts and bond. There is also a mood journal for users to reflect on their day, and find triggers or positive actions to work on. 

There are three different subscription plans, which offer different ranges of access to the app’s resources and therapists. 

CARA Unmask is available for free on iOS and Android.

The co-founder of Safe Space, Antoinette Renee Patterson, created the app as she wanted to make mental health services more affordable, accessible and convenient. 

Launched in December 2019, Safe Space helped provide online counselling for Singaporeans who were isolated during COVID-19. The platform seeks to provide affordable online and offline counselling for locals.

While the app itself is free, users need to pay for its services. A face-to-face session or video call with Safe Space’s counsellors or therapists costs $80 and $120 respectively. 

Safe Space is available for free on iOS and Android.

Another Singapore-based meditation mobile app, MindFi is created to help people with busy working schedules be calm and productive. 

MindFi founder Bjorn Lee said that he created the app as he wanted a form of meditation that could be done anytime and anywhere. 

With MindFi, users can incorporate bite-sized meditations into their working life. Users who are new to meditation are encouraged to start small by meditating for one minute every day, and gradually meditating more each day. 

Some popular features of MindFi are its focus mode and haptic breathing session. 

Focus mode helps with a digital detox, especially when you need to get a task done. It lasts for 25 minutes and in that time you are not to look at your phone. The haptic breathing session helps users breathe in and out according to their phone’s vibrations. 

MindFi is available for free on iOS and Android.

The Intellect app uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help users hone and develop new behavioural traits. CBT focuses on changing one’s negative thoughts and behaviours that can contribute to or worsen anxiety and depression. 

As this is something that everyone goes though, it gives more emphasis on how therapy is for any normal person to better themselves. 

Co-founder Theodoric Chew hopes to destigmatise people’s need for therapy by making it accessible not just for the mentally-ill or clinically distressed, but also normal people. 

A feature of the app is Learning Paths. Intellect offers personalised bite-sized training plans that suggest ways to help users weekly. This consists of month-long programs that address issues concerning relationships, work habits and personal behaviours. 

Another distinctive feature is Rescue Sessions. In it, there are short audio clips on topics such as stress, emotional burn-out and low self-esteem. 

The app requires commitment and time from the user as the app continues to customise the user’s journey the more they use it. 

Intellect is available for free on iOS and Android.

When the founders of Wysa learnt that what people need most is an impartial listening ear, they created an emotionally intelligent and adorable penguin chatbot, Wysa.

As Wysa is available 24/7, users can pour their heart out to the chatbot whenever they need.

The chatbot tracks users’ moods and helps them find optimism. The Positivity Pack has exercises such as writing down happy thoughts and listening to music with positive vibes. 

The app also offers exercises, meditations and various techniques that help with relaxing, sleeping and coping with anxieties. 

Wysa is available for free on iOS and Android.

A clinically validated self-improvement program dedicated to help people live fuller lives, Happify has a unique approach to taking care of one’s mental health.

It measures your emotional well-being and provides science-based activities and games to increase your “happiness score”.

Happify is available for free on iOS and Android.

Whether you need a therapist, a journal or a small break, you can rely on these apps. 

With so many resources available, better mental health is just a download away!

If you are looking for more mental well-being resources, check out Youthopia’s resource page with everything from mental health self-assessments to tips for coping with challenging seasons in life.