The past few years have seen an explosion of mental health and wellness apps available to consumers, covering everything from talk therapy, diet and exercise, depression and anxiety treatment, sleep health, and more.
As awareness expands around the importance of holistic health for the mind and body, access to support tools and programs also grows. These apps have many benefits, including bridging the gap between healthcare providers and the public when traditional avenues and approaches may be inaccessible for various reasons.
Today, we will discuss popular wellness apps, their capabilities, features, effectiveness, and costs.
Overview of Fresh Tri
Fresh Tri, founded by Kyra Bobinet, MD MPH, is a comprehensive wellness platform rooted in brain science and built for vulnerable populations.
Kyra has specialized in healthcare innovation, behavior neuroscience, and population health management throughout her career. She dedicated her time to creating an alternative to notoriously harmful and ineffective diet and exercise methods.
Holistic well-being is the focus of Fresh Tri, from healthy eating and moving your body to stress management and positive thinking – it covers it all. The research-backed Iterative Mindset Method™ is a unique, practice-and-tweak approach to mindset training and lasting healthy habit formation.
Core Features and Functionalities
Fresh Tri is not a prescriptive, multi-step system that users must follow. Instead, it offers a natural, fluid approach to lasting behavior change and habit building. It creates space for individuals to learn what works for them and continue to “tri” without fear or stigma of failure.
The Fresh Tri system revolves around four focus areas that users choose from – healthy eating, movement, behavior change, and stress management. The app provides ongoing encouragement, self-directed learning resources, and an engaged community.
Eat Healthy
Fresh Tri knows there is no right or wrong approach to healthy eating. Our relationship to food and weight management can be tricky. Fresh Tri wants food to be an enjoyable avenue to fuel your body and mind. Our approach teaches you to tune into what your body needs without the pressure of strict rules.
With Fresh Tri, you can access helpful tips and videos on eating mindfully, stopping overeating, and making small iterations toward choosing healthier food at the grocery store and restaurants.
Move More
Your body was designed to move. You’ve probably tried to incorporate a rigid exercise routine into your life – expensive gym memberships, New Year’s resolutions, a grin-and-bear-it approach – but nothing has stuck.
There are approaches that work. You just have to find the type of movement that makes you happy. You can also “tri” small iterations that will add up over time, like discovering creative approaches to taking more steps, sitting less and standing more, and, most importantly, finding joy in movement.
Manage Stress
Life is stressful, but that doesn’t mean we need to feel constant stress. Fresh Tri encourages you to find your inner peace and release tension.
Stress robs you of a clear head, an open heart, and a productive life. Stress management is a vital aspect of overall wellness, and Fresh Tri has relaxation exercises, therapeutic breathing tips, and more, to promote a peaceful mind.
Think Positively
What is it like inside your head? People who think positively are more confident, resilient, optimistic, and happier. It’s easy to think your brain is wired a specific way, but you can train your brain to focus on the positive and reframe negative thoughts.
The Fresh Tri system is here to help with this – learn how to improve your mindset and cultivate happiness and contentment.
User Testimonials or Success Stories
Fresh Tri has many user testimonials on the power of the Iterative Mindset Method™.
“I know eating better is the best way to find long-term healing. I just have to acknowledge relapses happen, but I am NOT restarting from ZERO! I’ve lost 40 lbs this year, so YEAH ME!”
“[Fresh Tri provided a reboot] in my relationship with food. I’ve been on a “diet” my whole adult life. I’m grateful for an opportunity to learn to just eat until satisfied.”
“As always, I’m grateful for this app and that I have the capacity for acceptance in the bumpy road of life (deep breath in and a long breath out).”
Mental Health Apps: An Overview
Let’s discuss a few aspects of the available mental health apps.
The Rise of Mental Health Apps
Mental health apps aren’t new, but their proliferation is recent. During the pandemic, the need for remote and accessible mental health help was more significant than ever – the Organization for the Review of Care and Health Apps (ORCHA) saw a 6,500% increase in healthcare professionals recommending apps to their patients.
Psychologists were initially worried that people would use apps to replace therapy. Instead, its been found that the apps can help psychologists enhance patients’ progress by addressing problems as they occur at home or serving as a booster once treatment has ended.
The mental health apps available to consumers cover various topics, from meditation and mindfulness to mood tracking and online therapy.
Common Features of Mental Health Apps
Mental health apps are designed to improve emotional well-being, increase mindfulness, and address stress, anxiety, and depression.
Apps may focus on mental health through implementing a meditation practice, improving sleep health, or providing online text therapy. The allure of mental health apps is their affordability, accessibility, convenience, and user-friendliness. Downloading and using a smartphone app is much easier than meeting with healthcare professionals in their offices and offers privacy that may not exist outside your home.
While many of these apps tackle similar issues, the quality of the 10,000 available mental health apps varies greatly. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) created an app evaluation framework to help you choose the best quality option by employing “a hierarchical rating system and embedded rubric so that APA members, patients, and other providers become familiar with important information that should be considered when picking an app, and how this differs from choosing more traditional therapeutic interventions.” Some of the evaluation criteria include privacy and safety, clinical foundation, usability, and therapeutic goals.
Generally, each app will have a singular focus, addressing one area of wellness rather than a comprehensive approach.
Comparing Fresh Tri with Mental Health Apps
How does Fresh Tri compare to the most popular mental health apps?
Holistic Approach vs. Single Focus
The main difference between Fresh Tri and other mental health apps is in its approach to wellness. Fresh Tri offers an all-encompassing path to holistic wellness. In contrast, others offer one focus, such as Calm for decreased anxiety and increased concentration, Better Help for therapy, and MoodKit for mood enhancement.
The Fresh Tri approach addresses multiple aspects of wellness simultaneously, so having multiple accounts, checking numerous apps, or fielding notifications from several sources isn’t necessary. Further, if the apps you choose to explore have associated costs, you are forced to pay for many apps to address multiple concerns.
Personalization and Flexibility
Personalization and flexibility are key for app engagement. Data suggests that over 95% of users will stop using a mental health app that isn’t personalizable. We’re all different and find various features more impactful, so an app with a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t likely to be successful.
Fresh Tri emphasizes personalization, allowing users to tailor their wellness journey to their unique needs and preferences.
Scientific Backing and Expertise
Mental health is serious – all support and advice should have scientific backing. Without science, you may not feel the benefits the app claims you will gain from its use. The APA suggests asking yourself:
- Does the app appear to do what it claims?
- Is the app’s content correct, well-written, and relevant?
- Does it reference studies or data that support its use case?
- Is there evidence of efficacy?
Fresh Tri and the Iterative Mindset Method™ are rooted in neuroscience – specifically focused on the habenula, the part of the brain that directly affects your motivation.
User Experience and Interface
The user experience and interface design are essential when evaluating mental health apps. While this is a subjective category, and users will have differing opinions, the overall functionality is still crucial in determining how usable the app is.
For some users, a gamified experience will increase usage; for others, a streamlined, straightforward interface will better meet their needs.
User-Friendly Design
Overall, for users to return and engage daily in the app, it needs to be easy to use, in alignment with the needs in claims to address, and customizable.
Fresh Tri offers an entirely personalized app experience. Users can choose their focus and their level of engagement in the app and overall community.
Feedback and Support
An avenue to provide feedback and reach representatives for support is another crucial aspect of a mental health app.
Fresh Tri offers in-app technical support for all users and welcomes feedback on their website.
Pricing and Accessibility
People turn to mental health apps for many reasons, one of which is the more accessible price point compared to traditional healthcare services. While a mental health app is likely more affordable than a therapist, nutritionist, or personal trainer, many still have costs attached.
The app could be free to download, but more functionality access will likely incur weekly, monthly, or yearly charges.
Fresh Tri is entirely free for individuals. There are no hidden fees and no helpful content hidden behind a paywall.
Mental Health Apps – Give it a Fresh Tri
Mental health apps are available in many forms. Some will meet your needs; some you may never want to open.
Consider your needs and preferences when choosing an app for your mental health journey. The key is finding the wellness solution that aligns with your personal goals and personality and provides a positive and practical user experience.
If a holistic, science-backed solution sounds like the right fit, download the Fresh Tri app today.
