Here are is a list of applications, websites, online support centers, and forums dedicated to improving and maintaining mental health.

ACT Coach, developed by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, teaches users how to tolerate negative thoughts and feelings. The app virtually guides people through awareness exercises and gives tips on how to ditch self-doubt. With an extra focus on mindfulness, this app also provides a log to track a user's progress.^[2][1]

Designed by therapist Rosemary Sword, this app offers mind-balancing exercises to help a user relax, focus, and develop a sense of well-being.

The app offers meditations, guided visualization exercises, and a self-discovery quiz.

The approach is based on Time Perspective Therapy, a method to curb unhelpful or obsessive thoughts.

The app offers information and research on this approach.^[1]

Named by Apple as the 2017 iPhone App of the Year, Calm provides people experiencing stress and anxiety with guided meditations, sleep stories, breathing programs, and relaxing music.

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Created by the National Center for Telehealth and Technology, this app teaches users how to do diaphragmatic breathing.

There is educational videos on the stress response, logs to record stress levels, and customizable guided breathing sessions.^[5][1]

This app works as a daily mood and thought diary based on the dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) approach. It has a coaching module that gives tips on sticky emotional situations, like how to ask for what a user need or how to successfully resolve conflict. Users get positive reinforcement when they are consistent with their entries. The app also includes a super-helpful DBT reference section for more info on coping skills - all backed by research.^{[5] [1]}

This app is based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). It helps a user monitor dips in their mood and learn about clinical depression and treatments. A user can also try guided relaxation techniques in the app’s Relaxation Audio and learn strategies to challenge negative thinking with the Emotion Training audio and the Cognitive Thought Diary. There is a motivation points system that will keep users engaged. ^[7][1]

The array of engaging games, activity suggestions, and gratitude prompts makes Happify a useful shortcut to a good mood.

Designed with input from 18 health and happiness experts, Happify’s positive mood-training program is psychologist-approved.^[8][1]

notOK is a free app developed by a struggling teenager (and her teen brother) for teenagers.

The app features a large, red button that can be activated to let close friends, family and their support network know help is needed.

Users can add up to five trusted contacts as part of their support group so when they hit the digital panic button, a message along with their current GPS location is sent to their contacts.

The message reads: “Hey, I’m not OK!

Please call, text, or come find me.”

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Formerly called Pacifica, the Sanvello app teaches techniques for dealing with anxiety, depression, and stress.

It is based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). It teaches through a combination of videos, audio exercises , interactive activities and mood and health habit tracking .

Sanvello is integrated with Apple Health, so a user can input exercise, sleep, and caffeine figures. Sanvello also tracks Mindfulness Minutes in Apple Health, based on user's meditation practice.^[9][1]

Daylio is a journaling and mood-tracking app.

A user enter their moods by choosing icons from Daylio’s large online database.

Daylio also offers a journaling function to write about user's activities.^[10][1]

This straightforward stress management tool helps users rethink what is stressing them out through a variety of onscreen prompts.

The app encourages new ways to take charge of anxiety and tune into body signals based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). ^[11][1]

This mood tracker and resource locator was designed by Emory University researchers to aid in suicide prevention. The setup is simple: users create a personal profile that includes emergency contact information, current medications, safety plans, and reminders for appointments or medications. The app uses GPS to locate mental health care services nearby, should any user enter crisis mode.^[12][1]

If a user suffers from PTSD symptoms, this 24-hour tool can be very valuable.

It is linked directly to support services.

PTSD Coach is available as an app or through a browser online.

A user selects the specific issue they want to deal with, from anxiety and anger, to insomnia and alienation.

The app then gives guidance on how to lift a user's mood, shift a user's mindset, and reduce stress.

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This app’s approach is different from that of other stop-smoking apps.

It shows a user the hit their wallet takes every time you get another pack.

Quit It calculates how much money a user save each time they don’t smoke.^[14][1]

Quit Pro a fitness tracker for a user's smoking habit.

It monitors their cravings over time, the places they puff the most, the triggers that lead them to light up, and the money they save by resisting a cigarette.

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The SAM (Self-Help for Anxiety Management) app lets a user know what is pushing them over the edge, so they can reel themself back in.

SAM’s approach is to monitor anxious thoughts, track behavior over time, and use guided self-help exercises to discourage stress.

SAM takes it to the next level by offering a “Social Cloud” feature that allows users to confidentially share their progress with an online community for added support.^[1]

Stop, Breathe, Think is an award winning meditation and mindfulness app that helps a user find peace anywhere.

It allows them to check in with their emotions, and recommends short guided meditations, yoga and acupressure videos, tuned to how a user feels.^[16][1]

Relying on the powers of relaxation, visualization, and positive suggestions, this pro-sobriety app has the goal of calming a user's mind and getting it to a less-stressed place - wherea user will be less likely to crave a drink.

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Stress and Anxiety Companion can help make the wellness process a lot easier by guiding a user through proven techniques to reduce those off-kilter thoughts and emotions while cultivating a much more present mindset.

Additional features allow a user to identify anxiety triggers.^[18]

Talkspace makes chatting with therapist possible every day of the week.

For a low fee, a user can text message with a trained professional as needed, and they’ll respond 1–2 times per day.

Talkspace offers services for both individuals and couples.

The app is free to download.^[20][1]

This app enables users to track what kick-starts their anxiety, note trends in their feelings, observe when the outcomes were harmless, and keep tabs on insights to stop future freak-outs.

To lower anxiety even further, Worry Watch is password-protected, so whatever a user divulges in the diary feature is safe and sound.

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The American Psychiatry Association is the largest professional membership organization of psychiatrists in the world.

The APA website hosts “Let’s Talk Facts” brochures on a range of illnesses, professional resources for psychiatrists, psychiatric residents and medical students.

It publishes up-to-date news, research, government policies and developments in psychiatry.

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People with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) have a damaging preoccupation with their appearance and an obsessive focus on their physical flaws. If that sounds familiar, a user might find some relief on the BDD Foundation’s website.^[22][1]

Hosted by the Center for Complicated Grief, this site offers help for those who feel "stuck" in grief.

Instead of healing after the loss of a loved ones, those with complicated grief continue to have difficulty managing painful emotions, troubling thoughts, and dysfunctional behavior.

The website provides resources including articles, research, social support groups, and organizations to connect with when healing from the loss of a loved one.

It also offers a self-assessment tool to see if a user is experiencing complicated grief.^[23][1]

Founded in 1994 as an alliance to promote and maintain LGBTQ+ community centers, CenterLink’s helpful services have now moved online. Check out all they have to offer - from links to health centers across the United States to advocacy groups and educational services.^[24][1]

One of the center’s best resources is its online volunteer-run chat room.

Chats are open during 1–9 p.m. (PST) during the week and between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. (PST) on Saturday.^[25][1]

For anyone with borderline personality disorder, this peer-run Facebook group is the perfect online space to ask questions about BPD and its treatment, especially considering that mental health professionals often chime in. It is also a place to share experiences, discuss progress and challenges, and potentially make some new friends. ^[26][1]

If a user is in a place where picking up the phone seems too daunting, they can still access support through IMAlive’s virtual crisis chat.

Staffed by a network of trained and supervised peer volunteers around the country, IMAlive’s goal is to empower individuals in despair, address their situation, and help them navigate the darkest and most difficult emotional times.

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This website offers an invaluable space for those struggling with obsessive–compulsive disorder. It offers many links, resources, and opportunities to either get involved or get help in the ongoing fight to preserve mental health.^[28][1]

The main goal of this government-sponsored resource: educate as many people as possible about the realities of mental illness in America, while offering resources to those seeking help.

The site is provided by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Support is provided for almost any aspect of mental health, including: eating disorders , anxiety disorders , veterans’ issues , substance abuse , obsessive-compulsive disorder , psychotic disorders , schizophrenia , suicidal behavior , trauma and stress-related disorders.

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This nonprofit provides community-based mental health services to adults, especially those suffering medical, social or substance-related comorbidities.

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From education about mental illness to updates on insurance coverage, National Alliance on Mental Illness offers a slew of resources. People who want to get informed about the workings of the mind and the government’s recognition of mood and behavioral disorders will get the full scoop here. Arguably the most helpful resource is the heart-wrenching and hopeful personal stories from individuals across the country from individuals sharing their accounts of living with mental illness.^[1]

This resource enables victims of all types of crimes (bullying, physical abuse, stalking, and even terrorism) to secure the help they need.

Services are anonymous and confidential, with no collection of phone numbers or IP addresses.

Individuals in need can access the National Center for Victims of Crime’s Victim Connect Resource Center to get immediate help via chat or phone, report a crime, read about victim rights and how to get a protective or restraining order. Information is also available about financial and legal avenues of help.^[1]

A pioneer in the education and treatment for eating disorders, the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) extends a wide range of support services, learning tools, and opportunities to advocate on behalf of those with an eating disorder. The website offers information about the various types of eating orders, plus a list of recovery resources. There is also a hotline where a user can get immediate help. Anyone wanting to learn how to support a family member or friend affected by an eating disorder can download the Parent Toolkit. It provides answers to questions about the signs of an eating disorder, symptoms and medical consequences, and treatment and levels of care.^{[31] [1]}

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) site is one of the most comprehensive and trusted sources for information about mental illness. It is packed with educational tools designed to promote awareness and provide funding for research. It serves as a hub on a variety of topics: the latest news on a range of disorders, updates on new treatments, and reports on insurance coverage. And a user can also search for support via the NIMH site. ^{[32] [1]}

This site is designed for teens and young adults with mental illness.

It offers an online outlet for people to come forward with their own stories, find support, and discuss the diagnoses they may have received.

OK2Talk comes with plenty of motivational posts and mantras as well.^{[33] [1]}

The Stalking Resource Center presents a number of options for anyone struggling with endless unwanted attention or obsessive behavior.

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This resource is chock-full of data, research insights, treatment options, and educational tools about substance dependencies and mood or behavioral issues.

It’s provided by the United States Department of Health and Human Services primarily to help those with substance abuse issues. This site also offers training and grant application resources to people interested in becoming practitioners in the substance abuse field. Its Evidence-Based Practices Resource Center provides communities, clinicians, and policy-makers with information and tools to incorporate practices into their communities. ^{[35] [1]}

This site, an endeavor sponsored by the Trevor Project, is an excellent safe haven to connect to other young gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, or queer people. ^{[36] [1]}