Outstanding Original Work

To navigate the incredible hyperspecialization of mental health apps, for my Original Work, I aspired to create a simple, accessible, and convenient platform that specifically targeted individuals suffering from mild to moderate symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and the general associated symptoms with these two disorders such as lack of sleep, poor concentration and mental cognition, weakened communication abilities, low self-confidence and self-worth, and others. On this platform, I wanted to provide users with an easy-to-use mental health quiz that gauges their current emotional state and personally recommends them an app based on their input. I believed that this approach would significantly reduce the time individuals take to research the most effective and inexpensive apps by already presenting them with options that are tailored to their specific needs.

The third part of my research required me to comb through application databases, which included the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) Apps Library, Australia's Head to Health service, and the United States' PsyberGuide. I analyzed these apps through a spreadsheet to check for price, user-friendliness, effectiveness, general purpose, target audience, and key functions. After perusing the various databases, I settled on seven main apps that I felt relieved symptoms of mild to moderate anxiety and depression: WorryTree, MoodMission, Happify, Be Mindful, Catch It, Feeling Good, and eQuoo. Analyzing the key functions and duration of usage of these apps, I created a personalized quiz with over dozens of combinations that traced the users answers to a final result. I learned an incredible deal of information form this process as I not only learned about the functionality of several different apps, but also learned how the apps used tangible psychiatric principles within their instruction to effectively guide users towards real results. Furthermore, I was successful in intersecting two passions of mine: technology and mental health cohesively as I integrated both my computer science abilities in using pseudocode to program the app and also used my emotional mindfulness training and experience to learn. I am excited to further implement these skills in my final product as I expand upon my current research and work. I am hoping to continue this with a greater analysis on even more apps.