APPS 

 
Suicidal Ideation/Self-Harm: 
notOK 
notOK is a free app developed by a struggling teenager (and her teen brother) for teenagers. The 
app features a large, red button that can be activated to let close friends, family and their support 
network know help is needed. Users can add up to five trusted contacts as part of their support 
group so when they hit the digital panic button, a message along with their current GPS location 
is sent to their contacts. The message reads: “Hey, I’m not OK! Please call, text, or come find me.” 
 
My3 – Support Network 
My3 is a crisis support app for people who have suicidal thoughts. The app features a contact list 
to call in case of emergencies. The list includes three of the user’s trusted contacts, 911 and the 
National Suicide Hotline. My3 also includes a safety plan which lists coping strategies and 
distractions. It’s one of the best apps that help teens with mental health struggles that include 
suicidal ideation. 

Calm Harm 
Calm Harm provides tasks to help users resist or manage the urge to self-harm. The app 
contains five categories to help you fight the urge to self-harm. Each category includes five to 
15 minute activities. These activities turn users’ attention to healthier ways to handle emotions 
and impulses.  
 
Understanding and Supporting Your Mental Health: 
 
What’s Up 
What’s up is an amazing free app that uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance 
Commitment Therapy (ACT) methods to help you cope with Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and 
more. Use the positive and negative habit tracker to maintain your good habits, and break those 
that are counterproductive. We particularly love the “Get Grounded” page, which contains over 
100 different questions to pinpoint what you’re feeling, and the “Thinking Patterns” page, which 
teaches you how to stop negative internal monologues.  
 
Mind Shift 
Mind Shift is one of the best mental health apps designed specifically for teens and young 
adults with anxiety. Rather than trying to avoid anxious feelings, Mind Shift stresses the 
importance of changing how you think about anxiety. Think of this app as the cheerleader in 
your pocket, encouraging you to take charge of your life, ride out intense emotions, and face 
challenging situations. 
 
 
Self-Help for Anxiety Management (SAM) 
SAM might be perfect for you if you’re interested in self-help, but meditation isn’t your thing. 
Users are prompted to build their own 24-hour anxiety toolkit that allows you to track anxious 
thoughts and behavior over time, and learn 25 different self-help techniques. You can also use 
SAM’s “Social Cloud” feature to confidentially connect with other users in an online community 
for additional support. 
 
 
Happify 
Need a happy fix? With its psychologist-approved mood-training program, the Happify app is 
your fast-track to a good mood. Try various engaging games, activity suggestions, gratitude 
prompts and more to train your brain as if it were a muscle, to overcome negative thoughts.  
 
 MoodTools 
MoodTools aims to support people with clinical depression by aiding the path to recovery. 
Discover helpful videos that can improve your mood and behavior, log and analyze your thoughts 
using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) principles, develop a suicide safety plan and more with 
this free app. 
 
Headspace 
The Headspace app makes meditation simple. Learn the skills of mindfulness and meditation by 
using this app for just a few minutes per day. You gain access to hundreds of meditations on 
everything from stress and anxiety to sleep and focus. The app also has a handy “get some 
headspace” reminder to encourage you to keep practicing each day. ($12.99/Month or 
$9.99/Year for students) 
** FREE headspace meditations during COVID-19 crisis: https://www.headspace.com/covid-19 
 
Calm 
Calm is quickly becoming regarded as one of the best mental health apps available. Calm 
provides people experiencing stress and anxiety with guided meditations, sleep stories, 
breathing programs, and relaxing music. This app is truly universal; whether you’ve never tried 
meditation before or regularly practice, you’ll find the perfect program for you. ($12.99/Month) 
**Calm also has a “Calm Kids” section in the app where younger kids can learn calming 
techniques. 
 
Ten Percent Happier 
Want to sleep better, find relaxation, be more mindful and, well, ten percent happier? This is the 
app for you. Ten Percent Happier has a library of 500+ guided meditations on topics ranging 
from anxiety and stress to parenting and sleep, as well as videos, bite-sized stories, and 
inspiration you can listen to on the go. New content is added weekly so you’ll never tire of 
having to do the same meditative practice again and again. ($12.99/Month) 
 
Pacifica  
Pacifica helps teens break the cycle of ongoing negative thoughts. It does this by using tools that 
target stress, anxiety, and depression. The app consists of psychologist-designed tools based on 
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, mindfulness meditation, relaxation and mood/health tracking. 
Pacifica also has a paid option that allows users to work with a mental health professional 
through the app. 
 
MoodPath: Depression & Anxiety 
MoodPath helps teens to detect symptoms of depression. Three times a day, users receive a 
question about their emotional well-being. After two weeks, users will receive a professional 
assessment. They can then share that assessment with their healthcare professional. 
 
Smiling Mind 
Smiling Mind is a FREE mindfulness meditation app developed by psychologists and educators 
to help bring balance to your life. Just as we eat well and stay fit to keep our body healthy, 
mindfulness meditation is about mental health and looking after the mind. Our programs are 
designed to assist people in dealing with the pressure, stress, and challenges of daily life. 

Stop, Breathe & Think 

Make regular check-ins with yourself on your emotional wellbeing a habit with Stop, Breathe & 
Think. This meditation app begins every session asking you to identify how you’re feeling both 
mentally and physically that day, and offers a tailored meditation based on that. A setting just for 
teens focuses on the issues you encounter in school and relationships and offers real solutions. 
Expect to find mindful breathing techniques, plus tips to recapture your kindness if you're feeling 
particularly agitated one day. 
 
 
 Centered 
This app recognizes the power of physical activity in battling anxiety. Not only does Centered 
encourage you to take time to breathe and meditate, it also wants you to get up and get moving 
since physical activity can seriously reduce stress. Apple Watch users can also have notifications 
sent to their wrists reminding them to take a few minutes for a mindful walk or meditation. Now 
that's what we call bliss. 
 
Aura 
Aura walks your teen through 3-minute meditations to help you calm and destress. You let Aura 
know how you're feeling, and the app chooses the best meditation for you. Aura also offers 
mood tracking and daily reminders for breathing exercises. 
 
 
Reflectly 
How you are feeling on a daily basis matters. Reflectly is a personal journal and diary driven 
by artificial intelligence to enable you to deal with negative thoughts, make positivity louder 
and to teach you about the science of well-being. 
 
Breathe2Relax 
We know that the power of the breath is amazing and can take a body that is ready to run or 
scream, and calm it down. Use this app, described as a "portable stress management tool", to 
help your child to use deep breathing exercises to decrease the experience of anxiety. The deep 
breathing exercises ("belly breathing") not only decreases the experience of anxiety but creates 
distraction from anxious thoughts that negatively impact focus and ability to complete tasks. 
 
Mind-Tastik 
A Meditation app for: Anxiety, Stress, Self-Help, Relaxation, and Sleep. They have created a 
special section dedicated to COVID (Coronavirus) Meditations to help you cope with stress & 
anxiety during this stressful situation. 
 
Shine 
The Shine app is your support system for daily stress and anxiety. Learn a new self-care strategy 
every day, get support from a diverse community, and explore an audio library of over 500+ 
original meditations, bedtime stories, and ambient music to help you shift your mindset or mood. 
 
 
Breathing Zone 
Discover Mindfulness, one breath at a time. Integrates with Apple's Health app to record your 
completed breathing sessions Mindful Minutes. 
 
 
Relax Melodies  
Mix and listen to over 52 different relaxing sounds with background sound support — this 
app can be used while using other apps! 
 
 
Colorfy 
The mindfulness colouring book has become digital! Colorfy provides flowing and relaxing 
shapes and patterns for you to colour, allowing you time out from the hustle and bustle of 
everyday life.