Local psychologists are creating a research-based therapy tool they hope will help people deal with a common mental health issue.
Anxiety disorders are the most common type of mental health concern, explained Dr. Courtney Beard, a clinical psychologist at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts.
Beard has been working for several years with a team of researchers to come up with a way to help people manage their anxiety.
“We’ve known for a long time that there are these specific thinking habits that keep people anxious,” Beard said. “We developed HabitWorks to change those thinking habits with a simple game-like exercise.”
The app challenges negative thoughts that can lead you to spiral. It’s simple to use. After filling out personal details, you’re given scenarios like ” a coworker sends you the wrong form to sign.” You’re then given response options to pick from, in this example they are “corrupt” or “misunderstanding.”
“It’s really meant to change those underlying thinking patterns for more long-term benefit, not just something you do to cope in the moment,” Beard said.
Researchers worked with McLean patients to develop the scenarios and tested it on people across the country.
“We got a lot of feedback on the types of situations that were relevant to people and the types of anxiety that were coming up the most,” Ramya Ramadurai, clinical fellow at McLean, said.
Knowing our phones can be a source of anxiety and stress, the app keeps users on the device.
“But anyone can use it anywhere at any time. It’s so much more accessible than other tools because it is an app,” Beard said.
Researchers said the exercise should take less than five minutes and they recommend doing it a couple of times a week.
“You could do while you were waiting in your car for your kid to finish their activity. You could do it as soon as you get to work and you have a couple of minutes,” Ramadurai said.
It’s not a replacement for actual therapy, but a way to “do the work” on your own.
“Over time and with a lot of practice, people can start to sort of open up to when those situations come up. It at least gets them to first pause, realize that they’re jumping to a particular conclusion, but it’s actually uncertain,” Beard said.
HabitWorks isn’t available yet. It’s expected to launch in the fall.