Headspace, Calm, Opal, InsightTimer. Though different names, these apps are all geared towards improving the mental health of its users. Headspace uses guided exercises, while Calm focuses on relaxation regarding sleep. Additionally, Opal and InsightTimer help set restrictions and guidelines for going about your day. However, these apps don’t just share functionality in common, they also have a shared lack of positive results.
Studies have shown that these apps are deleted within 30 days of being downloaded by 96% of users, and only 80% make it 10 days. Users come to these apps looking to receive help with going to sleep, regulating their physical or mental health, or trying to perform everyday activities. Although the apps promise to help consumers achieve this goal, their hard-to-navigate platform and costly benefits leave people feeling worse.
A major part of receiving psychological help for mental health issues is human connection. Being able to articulate your feelings whether through texting or talking to someone truly helps you understand what you are going through. However, these apps are technologically based, meaning that the “people” you are going to for help are robots or AI-bots. This lack of genuine conversation makes users feel unheard and not understood. Beyond failing to provide an actual source of help, these apps also do not prove to be 100% safe. The apps themselves are not required to post whether or not privacy is secured or their effectiveness in the app, so users putting their personal information proves to be a dangerous start, especially with studies showing that 95% of these apps pose privacy risks.
Another fault of these apps is the obvious demand for money. Many of these apps are free in the app store, requiring you to just set up an account and list the issues you want to tackle. However, as time passes, the app becomes repetitive, asking you what you are feeling and what you plan on doing that day. This can all be avoided with a simple monthly or yearly fee. The app gradually starts asking you to upgrade your plan everytime you open the app, and this evidently leads to you and other users to delete the app. With the constant question and persistence for you to complete in-app purchases, the app loses its entire purpose of helping you achieve your goals of bettering yourself.
Some apps, even with good intentions, can damage your phone. While Calm takes more of a ‘only functioning when open’ approach, apps like Opal take up a significant amount of data in your phone by working even when your phone is turned off. The purpose of Opal is to monitor the use of other apps that you consider to be overused. After personalizing the apps, Opal locks them for a certain period of time, and studies have found that this drains the battery on your phone. Despite serving the purpose of helping you stay off your phone, Opal prevents you from using it at all with the severe drainage in battery it causes.
These apps, in theory, are said to be beneficial for your mental health, however, studies prove it will take time before they actually become helpful to its users. While not everyone can receive professional help, mental health apps do not always prove to be a safer or cheaper alternative. Human connection will always be stronger than trying to receive help from an AI-bot.
