Original Research Article: Mobile Apps for Mental Health: a content analysis

Abstract

Background: The mobile phone is arguably one of the fastest spreading and adopted technologies in the world.Various applications (Apps) and their uses are relatively new in health care, their usages are increasing phenomenally.This paper is aimed at analyzing different features of mental health-related apps.Methodology: This study examines multiple dimensions of mental health-related apps available in Google Play Store for four years between 2016 and 2020.We used a set of keywords such as mental health, mental illness, mental disorders, and the cure of mental disorder and the healing of mental illness to search apps available on the play store.We scrapped the data using various software and programming tools.Results: Our results show that mental health Apps mainly deal with following symptoms: depression, anxiety, general mental health, stress, post traumatic-stress disorder, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, sleep disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, substance abuse (drug and alcohol), addiction (technology, etc).On the other hand, Apps offer various approach to improve mental health.The approaches include relaxation, stress management, symptom tracking, calming audio, keeping a diary, connect with mental health resources, interpersonal support, meditation, and mood tracking.Conclusion: These easy to use and interactive mental health apps dealt with specific mental health concerns.Relaxation was the common technique used to deal with these concerns.It was difficult to predict the trustworthiness these apps by looking at their rating and the number of people who rated.

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