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Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?

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Re: Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?

#111

Post by cupofpython »

falcolas wrote: post #58
horsawlarway wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> mental health is as far away from the Internet as possible. I don't think it's the internet, exactly. But anywhere on the internet where your attention has been commoditized. Basically - if you aren't paying to use the app (and it's not decent open source software), get that fucking cancer out of your device. Just the basics: messages, calls, GPS, maps, shared connection, photos/videos those make one awesome, compe…

Turning off notifications - all notifications - helps quite a bit. It's a lot easier to ignore attention-grabbing apps when they can't put their attention grabbing alerts in front of you. I have an iPad explicitly configured this way, and it's incredibly relaxing to use it.

That does sound pleasant. I wish I could push notifications into a todo list with 1 button / click. I am usually not bothered or distracted by seeing a notification, but having to choose to delete it or act on it immediately is what gets me. I tend to delete everything and keep the interesting ones in the back of my mind for later ("I should check out my gf's new IG post")

I like notifications, and I try to respond to them intentionally. I open apps intentionally (this was easy enough to learn) and close apps intentionally (this was hard to learn). So I am pretty good about actually going into the app to do what I intended to do in response to the notification, and then closing the app. I can reassess afterwards if I want to spend more time in the app and open it back up, but again I create an intention before opening it that has a stopping point.

Intention is the difference between enjoying some funny short videos while sitting in a waiting room, and losing 1-2 hours of your life a day to doomscrolling. And if I could have a filtered list of notifications in a todo somewhere, I can set aside time to update myself on whats new that I care about but arent super important

Re: Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?

#113

Post by PopAlongKid »

time_to_smile wrote: post #69

Nearly every app in existence exists to profit off of you in some why. By nature it is hard for them to ever make your well being their aim. This is a reason I've stopped to working for direct to consumer companies, in the end you always end up scheming with your PM to figure out a way to screw over your users while humming a tune about how much you love your customers. Because of the raw numbers of customers, it alm…

>You can read on the toilet, that's what people used to do back in the 90s and before!

That is a bad idea, according to my doctor and my own experience. Ideally for the long term health of your sphincter, you should try to get on, take your dump, and get off the toilet in just a few minutes total. I used to keep a stack of magazines next to my toilet but gave that up years ago and am glad I did.

Re: Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?

#114

Post by dabinat »

I did three things that really helped:

1. Delete all social media apps and remove bookmarks of frequently visited sites so I’d have to type them in instead of just clicking.

2. Bought an Apple Watch. This allows me to know when I have a call or text without needing to have my phone next to me all the time. The watch is more limited than a phone and you can’t browse the web on it.

3. I use an app called “OffScreen” which helps set targets for maximum hours or pickups per day and then it nags you if you exceed them.

Re: Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?

#115

Post by dt2m »

rchaud wrote: post #98

Delete every recreational app on your phone. Also delete anything that gamifies passive consumption, e.g. Duolingo. Put some ebooks on your phone and read those. Stop mentally associating the phone with the infinite novelty generated by algorithmic social and YouTube feeds. Do not open your web browser unless you have a specific search query in mind. Disable all notifications except for the calendar and clock. Treat…

> Put some ebooks on your phone and read those.

This was the biggest improvement I did to improve my "phone time".

I realized I was only kidding myself if the actual goal was zero screen time. Being unproductive and just killing time by yourself isn't a bad thing, but if you spend that time reading something substantial instead of news and Twitter beefs you don't hate yourself afterwards.

Re: Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?

#116

Post by kworks »

Few links to mental health cultivating apps on my phone:

Plum Village: https://plumvillage.app/ Free, extremely comprehensive meditation app. Does not require subscription or mine data like most such apps.

WOOP: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/woop-app/id790247988 Free. Simple app with text prompts.

Point of information: (W)ish (O)utcome (O)bstacle (Plan) is a deeply researched and effective approach to working with goals, habits, et al. More info here: https://woopmylife.org/en/home

Streaks: https://streaksapp.com/ Nicely designed habit tracker. Responsive developer.

Perhaps these prove useful to someone.

Re: Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?

#117

Post by pwillia7 »

rchaud wrote: post #98

Delete every recreational app on your phone. Also delete anything that gamifies passive consumption, e.g. Duolingo. Put some ebooks on your phone and read those. Stop mentally associating the phone with the infinite novelty generated by algorithmic social and YouTube feeds. Do not open your web browser unless you have a specific search query in mind. Disable all notifications except for the calendar and clock. Treat…

For the ebook suggestion, I am LOVING Readera pro where it syncs all the files and reading positions across devices via google drive. Makes it so easy to pick up any of my devices and keep reading. I love to read but it is so hard to start doing because of all these other easier 'distractions'

Re: Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?

#118

Post by Konterstein »

There are no mentally healthy apps to have. You also have to enforce any rules you make and are always already in a fight that you cannot loose. The smartphone is net negative on mental health. I would only make arguments that you can get distracted really easily if you are too focused on something bad. Like today if you become a stalker you really need to be ill because there is so much distraction with the phone that it's hard to see someone healthy become a stalker.

My solution is to do activities where you don't have your smartphone. Something like swimming or riding your bike is great.

Re: Ask HN: What are some mentally healthy apps to have?

#120

Post by johnernaut »

I found an app called Meomind (https://meomind.com/) recently that has helped me a lot. It has a collection of real recorded therapy sessions from individuals that they've decided to share (with personal details scrubbed I assume) that you can listen to at your leisure. They're categorized as well, so if you're looking for understanding why you have a lack of interest in things, are having relationship issues, etc... you can find topics that you're interested in. It's been super helpful for me to realize how many people have the same issues or are in the same boat as me without me having to go in to see an actual therapist.
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