Coping with Anxiety and Depression - Resources for Students: App Recommendations

App Recommendations

App Recommendations

This page lists apps that are recommended for students coping with anxiety, from games that can help redirect energy to mindfulness, mood tracking, organization, and meditation apps for mobile devices.

Organization and Mood Tracker Apps

Happify - This app uses science-based activities and games to help users control their negative emotions and improve their happiness levels. Happify also includes guided meditation and relaxation exercises. A free version of the app is available, and there are subscription offers available for premium features in Happify Plus, such as unlimited access to games and meditations, and a 20-page character strength report.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
BoosterBuddy - This app was created to help teens and young adults cope with mental health problems, and developed with a team of professionals and teens and young adults who had lived with the conditions the app was designed to manage. You can choose between three different "Buddies" (a fox, a raccoon, and a rabbit.) You then tell your "buddy" what problems you struggle with. Currently, BoosterBuddy is designed to help with a wide range of conditions including anxiety, depression, Bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, self-harm, ADHD, eating disorders, and chronic pain. Each day, your "Buddy" will fall asleep and you must complete three quests to wake them up, after telling them how you are feeling. BoosterBuddy can also remind you to take medications at set times and send you reminders about events. Completing your tasks allow you to earn coins you can use to give your Buddy new outfits!
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
SuperBetter - SuperBetter is an app that encourages you to "Live Gamefully," a frame of mind that causes your strengths to move to the forefront of your mind, reduce stress, and promote change. You take on a "superhero persona," and the app suggests that you accomplish small tasks each day to make yourself stronger, such as recruiting allies, developing emotional control, and challenging yourself to try new things.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
Moodily - This mood-tracking app doubles as a sort of diary, allowing you to track when you start to notice you're experiencing a mood swing, as well as what you were doing at that time. This makes it easier to identify trends in your mood, and provides you with something concrete you can show to doctors to describe how you are feeling.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
MoodPanda - MoodPanda is a mobile mood tracking app that allows you to see your mood results visually on colorful graphs, and interact with a supportive community of over 100K users.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
Remember the Milk - Remember the Milk allows you to add tasks to task lists, break them down into smaller tasks, making them easier to accomplish, and even lets you share your lists with others. "Remember the Milk" syncs across all devices, and you can set due dates and reminders for tasks as well, so you can stay organized, and avoid forgetting the things you need to accomplish each day.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
RescueTime - This app encourages positive behavioral changes by analyzing the times you spend on your devices and gives you insight on how much time you spend on productive tasks and tasks that do not involve your devices, versus the time you spend on less productive tasks.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
Brain Focus - Brain Focus encourages you to take a break from using your phone as a distraction by blocking apps and quieting notifications for a set period of time, separating your "work session" and "break" times from each other. This app was designed using the Pomodoro time management method to encourage productivity. Some also find that when they feel more productive, their anxiety is reduced.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
Microsoft To Do - The Microsoft To Do app allows users to track their upcoming tasks, plan events, and set reminders for specific to do items. You can even add collaborators to your lists, so it's perfect for managing group projects. Best of all, this app can synchronize with your Saint Leo email account, so you can access your lists from your desktop or mobile device.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.

Meditation and Mindfulness Apps

Insight Timer - This app provides over 45,000 meditation music tracks, access to teachers, podcasts, and classes for free. The app allows you to join a community of over 16 million others who have made a commitment to mindfulness and meditation. A paid subscription for additional features is available, along with a 7-day free trial for those who desired more features.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
Smiling Mind - The Smiling Mind app includes hundreds of meditations organized into structured programs like Mindful Foundations (42 sessions), Sleep (6 sessions), Relationships (13 sessions), and Workplace (41 sessions.) While there are structured programs, you have the ability to move between different programs and meditations freely.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
Calm - Calm includes guided meditations, unguided meditations, calming sounds, bedtime stories for adults, and more. Calm allows a 7-day free trial for all features, but, as Calm describes, a free version is available:
"The free version of Calm includes timed meditation options (under 'Less Guidance' in the Meditate menu), Day 1 of all our multi-day meditation programs (such as 7 Days of Focus or 21 Days of Calm), our Breathe Bubble and our sleep story titled Blue Gold (in the Sleep menu).

The app also has a large number of free scenes you can select from to play nature sounds and/or music in the background, on both the guided and unguided meditation. Four scenes are pre-loaded in the app and can be switched by swiping right on your screen, and the remainder can be previewed and downloaded for free by, first, tapping on the 'More' icon in the bottom right corner of the Calm home screen and then selecting 'Scenes.'

If you complete the free trial and do not continue into a subscription, these free options will remain unlocked after the free trial ends." Source.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
Headspace - Like Calm, Headspace offers guided meditations and features that help you reduce stress and increase mindfulness, and sleep better. Headspace offers a free trial, along with paid subscription options. (If you are unemployed, Headspace is currently offering a free hear of premium features.)
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
MyLife Meditation (Formerly Stop, Breathe & Think) - This app offers personalized short mindfulness activities and meditations based on how you are feeling in the moment, and what you truly need.
Foundational meditations and activities are free, but premium subscription offers are available.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
Sanvello - Sanvello helps you make lasting changes to your mental health with self-care, peer support, coaching, and therapy. The features available depend on whether you are using a free version, or are using a premium subscription. Some premium features will be free to new users during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sanvello also has a free premium trial available, and premium features can be used for free through some employers and health insurance plans.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
Breathe2Relax - The Breathe2Relax app is a stress management tool that provides you with detailed information on stress' effect on your body as well as instructions and exercises you can practice to use to help with mood stabilization, anger control, and anxiety. You can also use HealthKit and your Apple Watch to measure your heart rate throughout the breathing exercises to get a more complete picture of how the exercises effect you.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.

Game Apps

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp - If you've ever played an Animal Crossing game, you know they are designed to be low-stress, and the mobile version, Pocket Camp, is no exception. You can manage a campsite for the animal villagers of your choice, craft new furniture, fish, catch insects, fulfill requests for the animal visitors, and more.
You can launch the game at any time, and there will always be something to do! Spend as little or as much time on the game as you like, and participate in challenges and events to earn limited edition items. While the app is free, paid subscriptions for perks are available for those who desire more features.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
Abyssrium, or Tap Tap Fish - Abyssrium, more commonly known as "Tap Tap Fish," is a game that allows you to create your aquarium, create your fish, and personalize your fishes' environment just by tapping the screen. The music and visuals make this game a truly relaxing experience. While the game is free, paid subscriptions and features are available to those who desire them, and "rewards" can be acquired by watching ads.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
Pigment - Pigment is a free adult coloring book app with a set amount of free coloring book pages. (Additional content is available for purchase on the app, and a 7-day trial of the premium version is available at the time of writing this.)
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
Coloring Book for Adults - Like Pigment, this app provides users with free coloring book pages and a large selection of colors to choose from. However, the pages available for free are of a larger selection than Pigment.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
SPARX - SPARX is a free game designed to help young people dealing with depression and anxiety process their feelings, learn CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) skills, and learn and practice real-life skills in a fantasy world.
This app is available on both iOS and Android, and is also available to play online rather than with a smartphone.
Neko Atsume - Kitty Collector - Neko Atsume places you in the role of a kindly human leaving out food and toys for neighborhood cats. Customize your back yard and porch to attract different cats, and check back whenever you can. As long as cat food is out, you will be able to watch cats interact with the objects you leave them! The cute, cartoony graphics and upbeat music are also sure to cheer you up.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.
Jigsaw Puzzle - This app allows users to complete jigsaw puzzles on their mobile devices for free, allowing for a low-stress distraction.
This app is available on both iOS and Android.