Smart Ways to Use Smartphones in Adolescent Mental Health Treatment

Appendices

Appendix 1. Mental Health Apps for Adolescents

• 1. Crisis Text Line: Gives teens a way to connect with trained specialists 24 h a day.

  • a. Visit www.crisistextline.org/ or Text “START” to 741–741

• 2. Mood 24/7: Lets teens send a message to trained mental health professionals about how they are feeling.

  • a. https://www.mood247.com/

• 3. Code Blue: Code Blue is designed to provide teenagers struggling from depression or bullying with support when they need it. Users can choose several contacts to be part of their support group. With just a few taps, the app will alert the support group that the user needs immediate help. Members of the support group can then text or call the user. The app can also share the user’s location with the support group, and members can indicate that they are on their way to see the user in person.

  • a. Code Blue will be free and is expected to launch this spring on both iOS and Android.

• 4. Breathe2Relax: Breathe2Relax is an app developed for stress management. It walks users through breathing exercises that help to reduce stress, stabilize mood, control anger, and manage anxiety. The app’s developers note that it can be used on its own to help reduce stress or in combination with other therapies.

  • a. Breathe2Relax is available for free on both iOS and Android devices.

• 5. PTSD Coach: PTSD Coach is an app developed by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Center for PTSD, intended for use by veterans, military personnel, and civilians experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. It provides a self-assessment tool that allows users to track symptoms over time (though it does not clinically diagnose PTSD) as well as tools for managing symptoms. Users can also store contacts for personal support, locate nearby treatment programs, and contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline quickly in emergencies.

  • a. PTSD Coach is available for free on both iOS and Android devices.

• 6. Optimism: Optimism is a family of applications that focus on self-tracking as a tool for coping with mental illnesses including depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and PTSD. The app helps users detect patterns in their mood, creating a way to identify triggers and other things that affect their mental health. Users can create a customizable wellness plan to chart their coping mechanisms, and this can be updated as they come to have a deeper understanding of what they need to tackle their mental illness.

  • a. Optimism is available for download on Mac OSX, Windows, iOS devices, and various web browsers.

• 7. SAM: Self Help for Anxiety Management: SAM is an app designed to help people manage their anxiety. Users can record their anxiety levels and identify different triggers. The app includes 25 self-help options to help users cope with the physical and mental symptoms of anxiety. Users can create a personalized anxiety toolkit, adding in the features of the app that they find most useful for easy access. The app also has a social cloud feature that allows users to anonymously share their experiences with other SAM users.

  • a. SAM is available for free on both iOS and Android devices.

• 8. IntelliCare: IntelliCare is a suite of apps developed by researchers at Northwestern University to target symptoms of depression and anxiety. The apps were developed as a part of a national research study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The suite includes the IntelliCare Hub app and 12 mini apps. The Hub helps users manage their preferences and recommends apps based on their concerns.

  • a. The mini apps include things like Worry Knot (for worry management techniques), Thought Challenger (to help reduce negative thought patterns), and iCope (for inspirational messages and reassurance).

  • b. The IntelliCare Hub app and related mini apps are available for free on Android devices.

• 9. Equanimity: Equanimity is a meditation timer that also features graphical tracking and a journal feature. The meditation timer features simple graphics to minimize distractions during meditation. If users have several stages in their meditation routine, the app can be programmed to chime at the appropriate intervals. Users can view their meditation history in the form of a visually annotated log or a text-based journal. All of the data recorded in the app can be exported as an email or spreadsheet.

  • a. Equanimity is available to download for $4.99 on iOS devices.

• 10. Headspace: Targeted to anyone who wants to learn meditation to reduce anxiety and stress and improve their attention and awareness; good for a beginner to establish a regular meditative routine. The skills taught include mindfulness and cognitive diffusion, breathing exercises, meditation practice, tips for increased relaxation, and concentration; may be applied to anxiety and depressive disorders, PTSD, and OCD, especially in conjunction with a health provider.

  • a. This app does a terrific job of describing basic concepts with a creative animated interface, presenting meditation in a user-friendly way with clear instructions; creating an online forum; supplying podcasts; normalizing mind-wandering; and illustrating main points with videos.

• 11. MindShift: Targeted to help adolescents, teens, and young adults gain insight into and basic skills to manage their symptoms of anxiety disorders, including GAD, social anxiety, specific phobias, and panic attacks. It is also useful for managing worry, performance anxiety, test anxiety, and perfectionism. The skills taught may be applied to individuals with physical, emotional, cognitive, or behavioral manifestations of anxiety, providing users with more helpful, balanced ways of thinking about feared situations.

  • a. It does a terrific job of readily offering lists of active coping strategies tailored to the type of anxiety and a variety of methods to manage anxiety; the information and strategies are simple and clear. “Chill out” tools such as breathing exercises, mental imagery, and mindfulness strategies are provided in text and audio format. “Quick Tips” are included to assist with anxiety in the moment. Users can “favorite” the methods that work for them. It is not helpful for people looking to track their symptoms and progress, those easily overwhelmed by many choices, or those with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

• 12. BoosterBuddy: provides teens with a list of coping mechanisms, tips for controlled breathing exercises, types of mental health concerns, and ways to manage symptoms

  • a. Helps teens do the following:

    • i. Check-in with how you are feeling each day

    • ii. Use coping skills

    • iii. Keep track of appointments and medications

    • iv. Get started on tasks

    • v. Follow self-care routines

    • vi. Increase real-life socialization

• 13. Stop, Breathe, and Think: a tool to place in your personal development tool box. It is perfect for those who have a hectic life and sometimes just need a second to stop breathe and well, think. You can even input your emotions to better suit your current needs.

• 14. Relax Melodies: Relax Melodies lets you become your own personal sleep DJ. You can choose from over 50 sounds, melodies, and white noises to create a restful ambience for your room. These sounds are combined with short meditation programs that will help you achieve your sleep goals. In-app purchases will give you a wider choice of sounds to play with.

• 15. Catch it: Created by experts from two leading universities, Catch It is essentially a diary of your negative thoughts and feelings. Each time you record a thought, the app will ask you to consider the problem from a different point of view and encourage you to change your approach the next time you are in a similar situation.

• 16. Coloring therapy: can help generate wellness, quietness, mindfulness, and the exact same benefits which meditation imparts on the brain; it can help generate wellness, quietness, mindfulness, and the exact same benefits which meditation imparts on the brain.

  • a. According to psychologist Gloria Martinez Ayala, the action of coloring involves both logic and creativity. When we use logic to pick up a color for a particular shape or pattern, we activate the analytical part of the brain. On the other hand, when we choose to mix and match colors, we activate the creative side of the brain. This helps incorporate both areas of the cerebral cortex which control vision and help with coordination and fine motor skills.

• 17. Operation Reach Out: This lifesaving app for iPhone and Android was developed by the military to prevent suicide. Recorded videos and menu options help users assess their thinking and reach out for help in crisis.

• 18. Relax and Sleep Well with Glenn Harold: Twenty-minute guided meditation with music to help you fall asleep. Relaxing and gentle. For iPhone and Android.

• 19. NOCD: Designed to help those with OCD, incorporate both Exposure Response Prevention Therapy (ERP) and Mindfulness Therapy, rate your OCD distress level, organize your OCD triggers and exposures, give you all of the tools needed to beat OCD, and help you follow your OCD treatment plan by organizing custom exercises. For iPhone and Android.

• 20. My3: define your network and your plan to stay safe. With MY3 you can be prepared to help yourself and reach out to others when you are having thoughts of suicide and help you get through your most difficult times. For iPhone and Android.

Appendix 2. Autobiography

Please answer the following questions below to help us to get to know you better. Thank you!!

Past:

• 1. Where were you born?

• 2. What stories have your family members told you about when you were born?

• 3. How did you get your name?

• 4. Where have you lived? What are the neighborhoods/ towns like?

• 5. Where are you in your family birth order?

• 6. What is special about your family? Does your family have any family traditions? Do you have a favorite memory of a family holiday?

• 7. Have you spend time with your grandparents? What are your best memories?

• 8. What is the best family vacation you can remember?

Present:

• 1. Do you have a best friend? What adventures have you shared?

• 2. What is your favorite sport? We do you like best about it? Were you ever on a team? And what position did you play?

• 3. Do you have pets? Describe your pets and what makes them special?

• 4. Do you have a favorite hobby?

• 5. What is your favorite music?

• 6. Do you play a musical instrument? Which one?

• 7. Do you like school? Why or why not?

• 8. Describe a favorite teacher. What did you like about them?

• 9. What are your favorite possessions?

Future:

• 1. What do you plan to do after graduation from high school?

• 2. What might be your ideal job?

• 3. Where would you like to travel?

• 4. Do you plan to get married someday? Do you want to have children?

• 5. What family traditions do you plan to carry on as an adult?

Technology:

• 1. What type of Phone do you have?

  • a. How much time is spent on it?

  • b. What is it mostly used for?

• 2. Do you use a tablet? Which kind?

  • a. How much time is spent on it?

  • b. What is it mostly used for?

• 3. Do you use a gaming system? Which kind?

  • a. How much time is spent on it?

  • b. What is it mostly used for?

• 4. Do you use Apps on your devices? Which ones?

• 5. Do you use any online mental health apps? Which ones?

• 6. What other electronics do you use?

Appendix 3. “Technology” group Survey