With mental health wait times stretching longer and demand outpacing supply, clinicians are investigating whether it’s possible to bridge the gap with judicious use of mobile apps.
This RCT compared three types of digital mental health interventions: CBT-based (Silvercloud), mindfulness-based (MFN, represented by Headspace), and enhanced personalized feedback (EPF, represented by MyDataHelps). (EPF apps track moods, monitor symptoms, and provide feedback based on responses.) All these apps are available for both iPhone and Android; Headspace currently costs $12.99 monthly or $69.99 annually, and the others are free.
Over 2 years, researchers enrolled 2,079 adults (mean age 37, 68% female, 77% White) seeking outpatient psychiatric care, randomly assigning them to an intervention group for 6 weeks: EPF-only, CBT-only, CBT+EPF, MFN-only, or MFN+EPF. No data were given about any concurrent treatments, but participants were required either to have a mental health appointment scheduled or to have completed one within the past 60 days.
Depression scores improved significantly across all intervention groups, decreasing by 2.1–2.9 points on the PHQ-9 scale. Similarly, anxiety symptoms as measured by the GAD-7 improved from 11.6 to 9.8 across all intervention groups, with no significant differences between interventions. Interestingly, adding CBT or MFN to EPF didn’t improve outcomes. Those assigned to MFN reported a small but significantly greater improvement on the suicidality subscale than those using CBT.
CARLAT TAKE Mental health apps may offer small benefits for depression and anxiety, particularly when patients are stuck waiting for care. While the lack of a control group limits firm conclusions, these tools are low-risk and potentially helpful as stopgaps. No app stood out, although mindfulness (Headspace) showed a slight edge for suicidal thoughts. Just don’t oversell these apps—they are supplements, not substitutes, for psychiatric care.
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