Smartphone apps are developed to mitigate anxiety and depression

A suite of smartphone apps developed by Northwestern Medicine has victoriously mitigated depression and anxiety symptoms in study participants by 50%, an efficacy rate similar to that generally acquired through psychotherapy or antidepressant medication.

That is the conclusion of a research study funded by the National Institutes of Health and recently released in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

Northwestern’s IntelliCare is a suite of thirteen apps that, when utilized together, target common causes of depression and anxiety, like sleep issues, social isolation, deficiency of activity and obsessive thinking.

“We analyzed that depression and anxiety rates decreased by about half, which is equivalent to what we see with most types of psychotherapy and with medications,” claims Emily Lattie, a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies, Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University.

The research involved ninety-six participants who had access to the IntelliCare apps and got 8 weeks of coaching to assist with their use. Coaching involved an initial phone call plus 2 or 3 text messages each week over the 8 weeks of the study. An algorithm suggested new smartphone apps per week to assist participants learn different skills and strategies.

Most of the study’s participants utilized the Smartphone apps on their smartphones as many as 3 or 4 times each day, or an average of 195 times total. At the similar time, the average length of use for each app was less than one minute, in accordance to Lattie. “This is a quite low time commitment,” she claims. “There is not a lot reading or content in these apps. It is actually prompts to do things differently.”

However more than 20% of Americans experience important symptoms of anxiety and depression yearly, Lattie points out that the vast majority of those with mental health issues do not get treatment.

“There are many hurdles to treatment, involving cost, availability and people being uncomfortable with traditional treatment methods,” she claims. Although, with more than 70% of Americans presently having smartphones, Lattie consider the IntelliCare apps can make effective solutions more accessible to clients.

The different apps concentrate on several strategies so that individuals can pick and select what is useful for them, as well as get suggestions deployed on their past use of the apps so they can sustain to find new strategies that can be helpful,” states Lattie, adding that the smartphone apps were designed by Northwestern clinicians and based on validated techniques utilize by therapists.

Among the thirteen apps established at Northwestern’s Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies are:

• Daily Feats: developed to encourage individuals to add worthwhile and rewarding tasks into their day to increase overall satisfaction in life.


• Purple Chill: meant to assist users unwind with audio recordings that instruct them through exercises to de-stress and worry less.




• Slumber Time: created to ease individuals into a good night’s rest.


• My Mantra: intended to assist users create encouraging mantras to mention their strengths and values.

Individual apps or the whole IntelliCare suite can be downloaded for free from the Google Play online store. In accordance to Lattie, the apps will also be available online later this year at the iTunes Store.

She adds that a bigger randomized control trial funded by NIH has been inaugurated that will involve 300 participants, with a control arm. In that trial, few participants will get coaching and app suggestions deployed on past use while others will not.