Mental health is all about our psychological, emotional and social wellbeing. It emphasizes on the way we behave, feel and think, and it is as important as our physical health.
Seeking mental health treatments can be difficult, particularly in today's technologically advanced society with so many possibilities. There are many people who would really like to have a mental health check-up but feel hesitant to go meet an unknown person and share their problems with them. Fortunately, today’s technology is developing faster which helps in making it easier for us to check on our mental health, through mobile applications.
There are various apps that could help you with your mental distress. One of which is Nuna: Mental health Companion. This mobile application is developed to help users with their mental distress. It claims to aid you with problems like depression, anxiety, stress, lack of motivation, self-esteem, sleep, anger, etc.
About
Nuna: Mental health Companion is mainly a 24/7 chatbot-based app. This app states that it is built on methods like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness-based CBT, and Positive Psychology. Nuna tracks your mental health status and checks on you on a weekly basis. The design of this app is neutral and pleasant. Nuna is developed by quite a large team including, app designers, software engineers, and of course many lead psychologists for consultation.
Features:
o We can chat with Nuna at any time. There are 4-5 tools for each issue (like anxiety, stress, etc.), these tools are actually chats using different methods by focusing on different aspects of your problem.
o There is a personal journal for you to write about the things you are grateful for, and many more.
o It also has few paid monthly or/and weekly plans where you can explore more therapeutic tools to deal with your mental health issue.
o Confidentiality of your data is maintained and if you want to delete your shared data, there is an option for that too.
Limitations: Even though this app is fine in many ways, it has some flaws as well-
o The chat system in the tools section is objective. It doesn’t allow you to add anything extra or ask your own questions.
o There is a language barrier as well because the app can be used by people who know English well.
o Apps can be helpful until a certain level; it cannot replace the actual setting and benefits of the traditional, face-to-face, way of counseling or therapy.
o One cannot fully open up about their issues through this medium as it runs by technology and artificial intelligence.
Not only this mobile application but the majority of the applications can only support you within many limitations, and no one, who is struggling with their mental health, should opt for online applications in the first place. Nuna app itself mentions that ‘it can never substitute an authentic human communication with a therapist’ and ‘it is not a replacement of the good old personal relationship or a psychologist. It’s more like adding in between’, which is the truth.
So, basically, it is okay to go for mobile applications to find a solution to your mental health problems but it might not solve your issues entirely, especially if they are severe. Therefore, always the best option is to go to a professional therapist whenever you are facing any problem and you’ll definitely find a solution.
