Mental health apps are growing in popularity, with research suggesting that not only are such apps popular, they are also effective at managing our mental wellbeing.  Despite this, they are not without a degree of risk, as a recent study from the University of Sydney highlights.

The research specifically explored the way these apps are marketed, and how this collateral portrays mental health.  In total, they assessed 61 of the leading mental health apps on the market in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia, and a couple of core themes emerged in the marketing material for them.

The first of these is the poor mental health is ubiquitous among the population, and the second was that mental health is something that can be easily managed (with the help of the apps of course).  The researchers believe this presents a number of issues.

“Implying mental health problems are present in everyone promotes the medicalisation of normal states,” the researchers say.  “The apps we assessed tended to encourage frequent use and promoted personal responsibility for improvement.”

The wrong message

The authors believe that the messaging suggests that the normal ups and downs of every day life are such that they require treatment from apps, even if they’re relatively minor concerns.  It’s likely that using the apps for such issues will consume a lot of time with little real reward.  It runs the risk of overdiagnosis.

They also believe that the medical profession need to take a greater role in the application of mobile mental health apps, especially around more serious issues.

“At the same time, people who have severe mental health issues may be helped by GPs or mental healthcare workers’ discussions around the limitations of app use and the importance of seeking additional forms of supportive health care where needed,” they say.

The researchers also believe that many mental health apps focus excessively on individual self-help solutions and personal responsibility.  This excludes external and social issues that can have an equally substantial role in our mental wellbeing.

The prevalence of mental health apps can do great things, but they run the risk of lulling users into believing that the apps themselves are all they need, and therefore shutting professionals out of the loop entirely.  The marketing material also showed a distinct lack of diversity, with most users portrayed as white, employed and in a family.

“It’s possible the lack of diversity in representation of users and stressors could alienate people with serious needs,” the authors say.

Suffice to say, this isn’t to suggest that apps are a bad thing, but more that they may have unintended consequences that need to be identified and addressed.  Hopefully this study will help to raise awareness of these and act as the first step towards doing just that.