With Mental Health Awareness Week coming up next week, we look at one app designed to ease your mind.
My Possible Self is a personalised self-help tool that helps you meet the stresses in your life head on. The app empowers you to take charge of your thoughts and feelings to create a healthy, happy you. It is the first self-help app to feature content licensed from the Black Dog Institute, leaders in e-mental health research. And it is clinically proven to reduce stress, anxiety and mild-moderate depression in just eight weeks.
Personalised approach
The app, launched in October 2017, uses functions such as ‘Moments’ and ‘Modules’ alongside the ability to monitor symptoms to help you better understand your feelings and recognise any patterns or triggers in your behaviour. Moments allows you to capture your thoughts, feelings and experiences through photographs and notes and associate them with an emotion. Whilst the self-help modules draw upon established forms of the therapy.
Modules within the app include managing fear, anxiety, stress and overload. As well as building happiness and wellbeing and managing both loss and major life changes. It uses algorithms to personalise user journeys according to individual responses, creating a unique experience tailored to your own specific needs.
My Possible Self was launched in 2009 by Joanne Wilkinson after she experienced emotional difficulties in her adult life and sought a therapist. However, access to a therapist was not so readily available. It was from here that My Possible Self was born.
Joanne comments: “We are passionate about making a positive difference to the lives of people suffering from mental health problems. Especially those who cannot access services due to a lack of resources. We want to start a movement and look forward to people joining us on our journey.”
MP support
The app has gained support from leading mental health campaigner and former care minister Norman Lamb MP He said: “I am confident that My Possible Self can help people improve their mental wellbeing and improve their overall quality of life.”
Not only can the app transform the lives of individuals, but it could also help employers improve the wellbeing of their workforce. Last year, 12.5 million working days were lost due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety. While counsellors provide invaluable support, offering these services can be costly and time-consuming. My Possible Self could give employees the tools to overcome obstacles and challenges themselves, thus reducing absence and improving wellbeing and productivity.
The launch of the app coincides with the rise in discussions surrounding mental health issues. My Possible Self hopes to provide a solution to help end the stigma of mental health.
My Possible Self is available from the App Store, Google Play and online. Individual subscriptions are £5.99 per month or £60 per year.
