Managing Anxiety: Smartphone Apps

Anxiety has a tendency to take over our thoughts when we most need to be focusing on other things. Whether it's giving a patient or their family our full attention, performing our tasks or enjoying time with family and friends, worry and stress has a way of making life so much more difficult than it needs to be.
Mental Health organisation ReachOut has released two new apps to help people manage anxiety in the moment through slightly different techniques, developed through evidence-based tools and research.
The iOS app (designed specifically for Apple Watch but also on iPhone) is called ReachOut Breathe and reduces the physical symptoms of stress through breathing exercises and measurement of the user's heart rate.
Psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said: “Shallow and rapid breathing is a typical part of the stress response, and hyperventilation can be very distressing for young people with anxiety and stress."
ReachOut WorryTime is available on Android and iOS, and helps users 'schedule' their worry to a specific time each day by capturing worry notes.
If you or anyone you know lives with anxiety or even has to deal with stress (and who doesn't?), it is worth giving these apps a try. Looking after our mental health is important.