Apps may be here for good, but many apps are not good for us. Functionality like gamification and infinite scroll is often blamed for keeping us glued to our phones and negatively affecting our productivity, relationships, and overall well-being. But believe it or not, there are apps that can support our overall health. And as we discovered, some even get a psychiatrist’s stamp of approval.
Mental health professional Yajaira Paparone, MD, has been helping patients with all aspects of their mental health for years and has seen concerns change as technology and its use have evolved. “I read that social media works to steal our attention, and artificial intelligence is working to steal our attachment, which is crazy and scary,” she says. “But it's also a good reminder that, when used appropriately, there is benefit in modern electronics.”
Paparone explains, “I do psychotherapy with individuals, kids, and families. And I would say a lot of the work is on being present in managing the experience and the feelings that come with having full access to yourself.” Apps should never replace medical attention, she says, so it’s important to consult a health professional to address concerns and needs. Still, she believes that some apps can enhance the work done during the therapeutic hour.
For example, Paparone notes, “Insomnia is a big deal; a lot of times people have a hard time sleeping.” Insomnia is often a symptom of diverse health issues. “It can run with anxiety; it can run with depression," Paparone says. “It can run in the perimenopausal/menopausal cohort of women. So insomnia shows up a lot. And the longer it's gone on, the more challenging it is to treat. So mindfulness apps can be a helpful tool.”
There are many apps to choose from to meet your personal needs and preferences. Abide is a Christian meditation app that also offers sleep stories and devotional reading plans. The Insight Timer app offers goal and intention setting, as well as meditations. While both offer free and paid tiers, Insight Timer includes a significant amount of free content.
“I've also heard good things from therapists in the field on the journaling apps,” Paparone shares. Abide and Insight Timer have journaling features, and Apple includes a Journal app on its devices. With full access to your phone (with robust privacy protections), the app will produce writing prompts based on recent activities, media, contacts, and places you’ve traveled. It also offers “state of mind” suggestions based on the moods and emotions you log. The Day One app offers similar features, and Daylio also provides activity-tracking options. Paparone says, “I think that's a great example of modern technology being used to augment health and not as a substitute.”
When considering apps for your well-being, you don’t have to restrict yourself to meditation and journaling. Paparone says she used the Ovia app throughout her pregnancies and found it gave her peace of mind. The app can also be used to track monthly cycles and manage perimenopause and menopause. “That would be just an example where there was so much information synthesized at my fingertips that I found useful because education can also be calming.”
Relationships can even be strengthened by apps designed for entirely different purposes. Paparone says her husband and daughter used the PictureThis app to identify plants. “He'd be able to name it, and then my daughter internalized that knowledge. She can tell you what different plants are that are native to this area.” Paparone affirms, “He used an app to enhance an experience.” Similarly, the Merlin Bird ID app lets you learn about birds in your region and identify them by sight and sound. Paparone says apps like these can enrich an already awesome experience, especially with kids.
Yet, she warns against children using apps and devices unsupervised. “As a child psychiatrist and as a parent, there is nothing like the neural input that comes from being face to face,” Paparone cautions. “Kids need faces. So, a large caveat is no electronics, no apps, for children.” Putting it more bluntly: “Parents need to lock up their iPads, the way they lock up guns.”
Paparone encourages an honest assessment of your current app usage and a comparison with how you want to interact with them. Notably, the apps she mentioned require user engagement, whether through participating in an activity, sharing your thoughts, or learning more about your experience. These apps can support being present, fostering a broader sense of self and your environment. Engagement, rather than passivity, can be a marker of healthier app usage.
In fact, Paparone shares that her mom's group is using an app to read the Bible together. “There's a sense of community. That's the foundation,” she says. “The app remains a tool. It's not a substitute. Community and relationships come first.”
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“I read that social media works to steal our attention, and artificial intelligence is working to steal our attachment, which is crazy and scary. But it's also a good reminder that, when used appropriately, there is benefit in modern electronics.”