The Relationship Between Your Mental Health And Your Phone: 5 Apps To Download & 4 Apps To Delete

Your phone is a powerful device, but especially so when you battle with mental health problems. The relationship between your mental health and your phone is more intertwined than you might think. However, this could work to your advantage if you use it correctly. In today’s post I’ll explain why the apps you have on your phone matter, which ones to delete, and what to keep (or download). 

How Your Phone Can Impact Your Mental Health

The relationship between your mental health and your phone can be either positive or toxic/bad. It’s up to you to determine where you fall. Take a second to think about how you feel when you spend time on your phone. Are you refreshed, energized, and content; or are you more anxious, upset, and on edge? 

If you notice that you are in the latter category there could be a few reasons why. It could be the content that you are viewing on your phone that is causing the negative feelings, which is what we are addressing in this post. Some other ways phone use can affect mental health is by disrupting your sleep, distracting you from processing your feelings, and it can cause addictive behaviors. Those are just a few ways phones can impact your mental health.

How To Create A More Positive Relationship Between Your Mental Health And Your Phone

Being intentional about the apps you use on your phone is a great way to protect your mental health. In this section I’m showing you four types of apps that are worth deleting, and five types of apps you should download to help your mental health. 

As much as we’d rather there would be no relationship, the relationship between your mental health and your phone is a prominent one. These app suggestions will help it become a more positive relationship.

 4 Types of Apps To Delete

These apps are best kept off your phone if you are in the middle of a tough time with your mental health. If deleting seems a little too permanent, using an app blocker could be a better solution for you. The point is to just avoid these apps if you want a better relationship between your mental health and your phone.

Social Media apps: This is a big app category to talk about when it comes to the subject of mental health. Whether you struggle with watching everyone’s highlight reel, obsess too much about likes and comments, or any other reason, social media can be toxic to your mental health. 

Calorie Counter apps: If you struggle with issues like eating disorders, or you get too focused on numbers to where it upsets you, deleting calorie counter apps can help. Doing this can help you learn how to enjoy mealtimes again. It may be hard at first, but eventually it will feel freeing.

Photo Editing apps: These apps can be dangerous for anyone that gets upset with their appearance and finds themselves heavily editing their photos. If you start noticing that doing this is affecting your mental health, I’d suggest deleting all photo editors on your phone.

News apps: While it’s important to stay updated on current events, there is a time and place for that. If you find yourself getting easily anxious about the news, you may not want any of those apps on your phone. This prevents any random push notifications popping up and upsetting you. Instead you can view the news at a time where you are more prepared to hear what may be going on in the world.

5 Types of Apps To Download

If you want all the positive vibes on your phone, these are great apps to achieve that. I’d recommend downloading a few from each category to try them out. Then when you find a favorite, delete the rest.

Journaling apps: These are great for getting thoughts out when you don’t have a physical journal nearby. If you need some ideas of what journaling apps to download, this article is a great resource.

Therapy apps: Did you know that you can have therapy on your phone? From text therapy to video chats, get matched with a therapist in one of these apps and you can have your therapy session anywhere.

Mood tracker apps: Tracking your mood can be helpful information to have. It can also help you become more aware of your emotions. There are a ton of different mood tracking apps. I think my favorite is Beautiful Mood. Because it’s basically like a picture you get to color in as you add your mood each day.

Positive affirmation apps:If your love language is words of affirmation, you’ll love these affirmation apps. They are great for practicing self love and giving you a pick-me-up when you are having a bad day.One that I have downloaded on my phone is called the I am app. I love that it is a widget but also sends me affirmations throughout the day through push notifications.

Self Care Apps: The last app category that I recommend downloading is a self care app. There are a plethora of these because the category is so broad, but these are ones that are great to start with. I love the Finch app because it gamifies self care tasks, and reminds me a little of a Tamogatchi, just in bird form.

I hope that now you are aware of the relationship between your mental health and your phone you can take steps to better it. If you have any other apps that help your mental health let me know in the comments.