Hi-Tech Happy Apps Claim To Help Improve Mood
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – If you're sad and you know it click your app. A host of high-tech tools are aiming to help boost your mood and make you happy!
But how does it work and can they really make a difference?
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For Preet Anand, waking up is his favorite part of the day. He's greeted with a soft, pleasant chime right on his phone but that's not all.
"When I finally go and turn it off, it gives me just a really inspiring quote that is kinda a great way to start my day," said Anand.
He said apps like 'Rise' help him get in the right frame of mind for his job as an emergency response specialist. It's a a profession he said is super stressful.
"My mornings would be sadder if I didn't have this app," said Anand.
App designers said demand for "happy apps" is growing.
There's "Happstr" which allows users to press a button whenever they are in a place that makes them happy and then it builds a 'happiness map' of sorts.
The app "Success Wizard" creates self-improvement plans to help users regain their passion and purpose.
The app "Happify" gives you tasks to perform each day to help get to your happy place and claims to be based on the science of positive psychology.
The "iMood Journal" allows users to rate their moods and track them over time.
"These apps exist because you have more people who are seeking happiness that are finding some way, some tool, some technique to get themselves to a happier place," said Clinical Psychologist Nekeshia Hammond.
While making you smile is the simple goal of most, some apps do claim to help with depression, something Hammond is leery about.
"It's not meant to be a cure for any mood disorder but more of a pick-me-up, more of an inspiration- just working on yourself. And think of it as like a self-help book," said Hammond.
She stresses, the apps should never be a replacement for counseling.
"If you've been recommended for medication or for therapy or something of that nature, it's not really a substitute to use an app instead but more of a supplement. More of a tool in your toolbox," said Hammond.
The "Moodpik" social sharing app allows you to track your mood by color and then share it with friends and loved ones. Co-creator Neal Smith said he worked with psychologists to design it.
"Our particular app is looking to align ourselves with you know the doctors and the psychiatrists to be a tool for them to you know monitor their clients," said Smith.
Hammond said the apps can be a good way to learn about yourself.
"For some people, they're not really sure like, 'why is my mood fluctuating so much?' And then you get to kind of see over a week and observe what is it that sort of triggered that mood for you," said Hammond.
Preet said the high-tech happy help definitely improves his mood and he's excited to see what new apps are on the horizon.
"I love the pick me up, I think we can always use little things that bring us smiles in our day," said Anand.
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