Digital adoption and rising wellness trends have revolutionised the healthcare sector, enabling greater access to mental health and wellness. Hive Life spotlights essential mental health apps from APAC that will support and empower you to prioritise your mental wellbeing.
One in every eight people suffers from a mental illness, and many continue to live in a constant state of stress in their day-to-day lives. During the Covid-19 pandemic, mental wellbeing only worsened, fuelling high levels of anxiety among individuals, and posing a greater challenge for the health sector globally. It did, however, come with a silver lining, bringing a significant change to people’s approach to health and wellness, while reshifting their priorities.
Rapid growth technological advancements and their adoption further prompted many to innovate and address this mental health conundrum. The emergence of mental health technologies and new wellness concepts has revolutionised access to healthcare services, presenting an easy and accessible solution for individuals to address their everyday mental struggles, from workplace wellbeing to daily mental health checks.
Here are some of the trailblazing mental health apps breaking the stigma in Asia for those looking to refocus on their wellness and build a mindful approach in their lives.
1. Neurum
Imagine a virtual companion that understands your mental autonomy and recognises your behavioural patterns- more than a wellness app, Neurum has gained widespread appreciation for its radical innovation in Hong Kong’s mental health space. This mental health solution is tailored to maintain the pace of your hectic lifestyle, while building a more balancing approach for you and your mental wellbeing.
Clara, the platform’s chatbot, guides you through your day, helping you to break negative thought-processes by recognising patterns, and facilitating walk-through exercises to overcome them. Navigate and refine your approach to mental wellbeing with your virtual best friend that will cater solutions to meet your values and needs.
Available: iOS and Android
Price: Free for select features
2. Ooca
Ooca is Thailand’s first mental health platform founded by Thai doctor, Kanpassorn Suriyasangpetch, to establish an accessible telehealth network across the region, and beyond. Witnessing a wide disparity in healthcare access in rural areas, the app was developed to address this issue and extend mental health support to unreachable communities. Its semi-automated and highly-engaging solution helps connect mental wellness coaches to remotely located individuals, where they can easily consult with professionals from the comfort of their home and personal spaces.
Empowering people for a cause, individuals can now join forces with Ooca to advocate for mental wellbeing among marginalised communities through their recent Wall of Sharing initiative, which enables online counselling support for the youth as a means of early prevention.
Available: iOS and Android
Price: Free for select features; US$28.23 and up for additional features
Read more: Female Tech Founder Builds Thailand’s First Mental Health App, Reaches 63,000 People
3. Thoughtfull
Wellness comes in many shapes and forms, and in the modern day, it is harnessing emerging digital technologies and innovation to drive change. Mental health chatbots have now become the new normal, and having such a digital ally has proven to be rather beneficial.
Malaysian mental health startup Thoughtfull developed the ThoughtFullChat application, with the aid of its proprietary technology, mediating between healthcare professionals and those navigating the space. Like most HealthTech apps, the platform helps individuals connect to their best fitted health coaches, based on its algorithm. It additionally offers assistance on the side, through their guided wellness connect, and personal journaling for you to track and celebrate each personal milestone.
Available: iOS and Android
Price: Free for select features; US$130.18/month for full access
4. Awarefy
Awarefy is a mental wellness app developed in Japan that has encoded cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques into its platform, taking a mindful yet intuitive approach to health. It takes into account Japan’s declining mental wellbeing, as many continue to suffer with rising stress and anxiety. The app is poised as an optimal mental coaching solution for your daily wellness and is equipped with a range of functions tailored to meet unique needs and capacities, each of its featured programmes being modelled by experts in the field.
Start your mental wellness journey with Awarefy, where you will find every essential tool, from sleep and meditation guides, to daily affirmations, to mental health check-ins, relationship assessments, discovering your trigger points, and more.
Available: iOS and Android
Price: Free for select features; US$51.34/year for full access
5. Share
Singapore-born Share was launched in 2022 as an on-demand mental counselling app providing an accessible modern wellness solution. Setting itself aside from other mental health platforms and being the first app to allow its users to hire real-time therapists, its proprietary built-in technologies allow users to skip the complicated process of accessing therapy, instead offering seamless support. Its certified team of clinical therapists and mental health counsellors apply integrative therapeutic approaches to create a safe and stigma-free space for their patients to openly communicate and rewire their perspective.
This human-centric application empowers individuals to cope with their day-to-day, corporate wellbeing, and mental wellness, functioning as your one-stop therapeutic space designed to help you feel better in the moment, while improving your mental wellbeing in the long run.
Available: iOS and Android
Price: Free for select features; In-app purchases
6. Smiling Mind
Designed for individuals with diverse mental health needs, Smiling Mind is an Australian app spreading mindfulness through their guided and personalised wellness programmes. Acting as an educational space, the app sets you on your personal holistic journey by first introducing individuals to what it means to practise mindfulness, along with establishing the groundworks of mental wellness. Their in-house programmes are developed by a team of expert psychologists, with years of experience in the field, to fully support and guide you step–by-step, offering a wide assortment of informative modes and meditative functions.
What truly sets Smiling Mind apart is that it focuses on education and prevention of mental distress, by starting early, targeting their programmes for children as young as 3 years old to teens, young adults, and the working population. 100% non-profit and impact driven, the app has served over 8.6 million young people globally, and is determined to build on their impact.
Available: iOS and Android
Price: Free
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