U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Micaiah Anthon
Practicing yoga, meditating, and eating well are a few ways the Anxiety and Depression Association of America recommends combating anxiety. Or, you could try an anxiety app.
A growing number of apps are using clinically approved treatments and gamification to ease anxiety — and they’re getting encouraging results, Vox reports.
Anxiety is the most common mental illness in the US. One-third of American adults will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives, and 18% of adults are affected each year.
Gamified apps like Happify, Mind Ease, Personal Zen, and SuperBetter — to name just a few — emphasize that their anxiety and stress-reducing exercises are steeped in scientific research, measure progress in a quantifiable way, and deliver quick results.
A 2016 study stated that users who played SuperBetter for 10 minutes a day over 30 days reported substantially reduced depressive symptoms and anxiety compared to a control group.
While there’s evidence that gamification is good at motivating people to form new habits, studies show a correlation between lots of screen time and lower psychological well-being.
Founders seem to understand that prescribing an app raises red flags, and some have made clear that their goal isn’t to pull people into time-consuming interactions.
“We’re ethically bound to try to create the briefest interventions possible, with the biggest bang in terms of efficacy,” says Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, the creator of Personal Zen.