According to a recently-published interview with John Torous, MD, MBI, Director of the Digital Psychiatry Division at the Department of Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, there are seven great evidenced-based mental health apps you should consider. Evidence-based means they’ve met the minimum requirements by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or have at least one randomized clinical research study that supports their use and effectiveness.
The recommendation for these evidence-based mental health apps comes in an interview with Dr. Torous found in the Oct. 2019 issue of The Carlat Psychiatry Report (subscribe here [at $129 I think not), a professional publication targeted toward physicians and psychiatrists. In that interview, Dr. Torous warns:
“Patients are starting to use health apps and they may not be telling you, which can be a problem because most of the apps that are available are poorly designed and lack research support. So you want to consider privacy, evidence, and ease of use. Some of the better-studied apps are coming out as prescription only products that are approved by the FDA as digital therapeutics.”I couldn’t agree more. Just because an app appears in the App Store or on Google Play doesn’t mean it’s been vetted in any manner whatsoever as being safe and effective for the condition or concern it targets. Most mental health apps are surprisingly not designed in conjunction with a mental health expert — it may be written by some guy who took a single psychology course in college. Because of that lack of expertise, some apps give just plain bad advice, such as suggesting using alcohol to relieve stress or negative feelings.
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