The developers of one of the most popular mobile games is taking a completely different approach with its latest app. Ustwo, the developer of Monument Valley, has teamed up with mental health app maker Thriveport for Moodnotes, a new app launching today,
Moodnotes is a journal of sorts, and is an easy way to record your feelings with the goal of promoting healthier thinking habits. It’s based on the principals of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which is a short-term, hands-on approach used by psychotherapists to modify the thinking or behavior in patients. It has been effective in treating anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and other disorders.
The app asks users how they are feeling, and users respond by simply altering a smiley face by swiping up or down to reflect their mood. Notes can be assigned to each entry, which makes it easier to track mood changes over time. Through additional questions, the app will help you better identify what might be causing these negative feelings like blaming or irrational thoughts.
This will hopefully increase your self-awareness because once these unhelpful habits are identified, Moodnotes can offer tools to help one handle future stressful situations more effectively. The bottom line is that the more time the user puts into the app, the more prompts and helpful information Moodnotes will provide.
Moodnotes is OK for those that have diagnosed disorders, but it’s also meant for those that want to better their thinking habits and increase their overall well-being. Everyone has stress and anxiety to a degree, and although they might not be detrimental to everyday life, we can all benefit from managing our mental health better.
Building an app for mental health isn’t something that any developer can create without having the proper psychotherapy background. That’s why ustwo teamed up with Dr. Drew Erhardt and Dr. Edrick Dorian, founders of Thriveport. The company already created a similar app called MoodKit back in 2011. It’s currently being recommended by clinical psychologists, but the adoption rate has been limited due to the fact that it’s more complex. Moodnotes is more streamlined for the average person.
Uptwo has already tested Moodnotes with about 500 users, and found the majority of people use the app two to three times per week, rather than multiple times per day as expected.
The app launches today on iOS for $4/£3, with no word on whether an Android version is in the works. iCloud isn’t supported because the developers want to preserve the privacy of users with such sensitive information. All data will be stored locally on the device, which is critical to that privacy.
You can download Moodnotes from the App Store now.
