TRAVERSE CITY — Those battling depression and anxiety can now find an unexpected ally at their fingertips in the form of a digital app.
MyStrength bills itself as a “health club for your mind” to help users manage depression, anxiety and substance abuse.
The app is meant to complement — not replace — other forms of mental health treatment like medicine and therapy.
Local residents can access the app with a smartphone or desktop computer at no charge after Northern Lakes Community Mental Health received state funding to offer it in the region, said Chief Information Officer Keith Huggett.
The mental health provider recently opened myStrength to the community after a six-week pilot program where it lent 20 patients tablets to test out the app.
“We had our folks pinpoint an area of concern or where they wanted to make a change in their mental health,” said Ashley McDougald, a NLCMH case manager who oversaw the trial.
Huggett deemed the trial a success, and said three people asked to buy the tablet at the end to keep using the app.
“These are folks that have never had a lot of involvement with technology, so for them to make that leap to want to use it every day is incredible,” he said.
MyStrength combines evidence-based therapy techniques with a library of quick tips and motivational videos from professionals to help users manage depression, anxiety and substance abuse disorders. It also allows users to track their moods and sleep patterns and set mental health goals.
“One of the most valuable experiences they had at the time was being able to set goals and being held accountable for those goals,” McDougald said of patients in the pilot program.
The app gives each user their own behavioral health plan based on a questionnaire of their own mental health concerns and what content they want to see. Users can customize their app to include tips and information on specific mental health disorders, physical wellness, relationships and parenting.
“It has something for everybody,” Huggett said. “It’s really about what you want the app to do for you.”
Huggett said he uses myStrength daily to track his mood and quality of sleep. The app lets him write notes for each mood entry to look back on and graph his entries over time.
“You can see how you’ve been doing over the course of a week, a month or a year,” he said. “You can talk through what you wrote with a therapist or case manager and come up with strategies to help manage it.”
McDougald said she tries to log onto the app once a week for a guided meditation video or a quick deep breathing exercise if she’s feeling anxious. It also helps her stay in touch with patients’ needs.
“It kind of refreshes me with some things clinically that I can do to help them,” she said.
NLCMH has more than 300 patients registered with myStrength in its coverage area of Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Wexford, Roscommon, Missaukee and Crawford counties, Huggett said.
He expects more to follow after NLCMH hosts free hour-long classes on how to use the app at its Traverse City location, 105 Hall St. Classes will be May 15 from noon to 1 p.m. and 4 to 5 p.m., and May 16 from 10 to 11 a.m. and 4 to 5 p.m.
“We’re trying to treat people as a whole person rather than for a particular ailment,” Huggett said. “We saw this as a good way to do that.”
