In this fast-paced digital era, children are increasingly exposed to the stresses and challenges of modern life.
It might seem that mental illnesses have nothing to do with children. But in reality, it does exist.
Believe me, mental health has a lot of impact on children’s overall health. The way children act and react is closely related to their mental well-being.
Early addressing of mental health issues in children can help save them from intense outcomes later in their lives.
Observe the behavior of your kids keenly and seek experts’ advice as soon as possible.
Some people might feel hesitation in taking medical help, but here comes a pocket-friendly solution for you.
Mental Health Mobile Apps are developed as a powerful helper in the journey of kids’ mental well-being. Mobile apps are designed to support and nurture their mental health.
Mental health mobile apps came as digital allies lending you a helping hand to take your kid out of any mental problem.
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From Childhood to Adulthood: Lifelong Impact of Child Mental Health Care
The need for mental health support in children was never this crucial as it presents in today’s complex and fast-moving world because of several challenges and stressors that can impact children from an early age.
Let’s have a look at some research and statistics to understand more clearly.
The rate of suicide, self-harm, and anxiety is increasing among children and young people in the world.
UNICEF and the World Health Organization are working together with a few of the world’s genius minds to handle these growing risks.
“Too many children and young people, rich and poor alike, in all four corners of the world, are experiencing mental health conditions,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director.
This looming crisis has no borders or boundaries. With half of mental disorders starting before age 14, we need urgent and innovative strategies to prevent, detect and, if needed, treat them at an early age.
According to the latest data:
- Up to 20 percent of adolescents globally experience mental disorders.
- Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15-19-year-olds worldwide.
- Around 15 percent of adolescents in low-and middle-income countries have considered suicide.
Nearly 15% of children in the United States were recently treated for mental health disorders in 2021, according to new research from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/12/health/children-mental-health-treatment/index.html)
- Children aged 12–17 years were more likely to have received any mental health treatment (including having taken prescription medication and received counseling or therapy from a mental health professional) in the past 12 months (18.9%) compared with children aged 5–11 years (11.3%).
- Boys were more likely than girls to have taken prescription medication for their mental health in the past 12 months (9.0% and 7.3%, respectively).
Dive Deeper into the World of Youth Mental Health: Latest Research Findings
- Prevalence of mental health problems: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 10-20% of children and adolescents worldwide suffer from mental health problems.
- The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) estimates that approximately 1 in 10 children and adolescents in the UK are living with a mental health illness, and many more are at risk of developing one.
- Access to care: Despite the high prevalence of mental health problems in children and young people, access to mental health care remains limited. It is estimated that up to 80% of children with mental health problems do not receive the treatment they need.
The above research and statistics showed the importance of addressing children’s mental health and making sure that they have access to the support and resources they might need.
- According to the statistics from the Children’s Society: 50% of many mental health issues start by the age of 14 with 1 in 6 children aged between 5-16 likely to have mental health problems.
- 66% of the test sample reported that they couldn’t get support when they needed it.
Untreated Mental health issues in children can have severe effects in the long run. Hence, it is important to take mental health treatment on time.
Empowering Mental Health: How Mobile Apps Are Changing Lives
In the world of child mental health care, an incredible transformation has taken place with the emergence of mental health mobile apps specifically made for children.
Let’s delve into the fascinating journey of how these innovative tools came into being and their success stories.
Well, many companies come to the forefront with their mental health apps for kids. Such apps are like a tiny psychologist in your pocket.
If your kid is struggling with any of the mental disorders such as anger, depression, or anxiety then you can help them come out of this phase in just a few simple taps.
The mental well-being of your kids…. Just a download away!
Let’s embark on the journey to find out the successful case studies of mental health mobile apps for kids.
1. Cosmic Kids
Assume your child starts practicing yoga themselves without your intervention with just a digital help.
Cosmic Kids app can help you in this journey as it makes yoga fascinating for your kids to keep them healthy both mentally and physically.
Cosmic Kids is an amazing mindfulness and yoga app designed for kids by Jaime Amor.
Productive activity like yoga was never this much fun before the development of Cosmic Kids.
It allows kids to practice yoga with their favorite cartoon characters such as Frozen, Star Wars, Minecraft, and Moana specials.
15 minutes with instructor Jamie in a fun-filled journey from the peak of the mountains to under the sea.
It also includes teaching important lessons of life to children bringing out positivity in them by using a combination of colors and larger characters.
Just a single download on your phone and a fun-filled journey for your kid begins.
This is not it as it also contains fun sheets and Guided meditation scripts too.
Kids feeling difficulty in falling asleep? Don’t worry as Cosmic Kids covers this too with 30 Zen
Den mindfulness sessions that help kids sleep, 24 Peace Out guided relaxations as well as Yoga Pose Universe clips, stories, and songs.
With yearly revenue of <$5 Million, 26.2k average website visitors, and 100k+ downloads, its success speaks for itself.
2. Mind Doc
In 2017 A team of clinical psychologists together with researchers, writers, product and interaction designers, and software developers created a magical app named Mind Doc.
No doubt this app is suitable for all ages but it is more impactful for kids.
It behaves like a true friend by asking children three questions each day to understand their feelings and lending a helping hand to bring them out of any challenges they might be facing.
You will also get the report of your kids’ detailed analysis. It will help in detecting issues your child might be facing.
“I think mental health is something that kids need to recognize more because some kids struggle with their mental health,” Dylan said.
Mid Doc is your companion on your journey to mental well-being. It helps you by asking daily stimulating questions, mood questions, psychological courses, and exercises.
With 3,000,000 downloads, 8.6k monthly website visitors, and 4.7 stars out of 26,000+ reviews, Mind Doc lies among the top mental health apps.
Cope with depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and insomnia with just Mind Doc’s app on your phone.
3. Think Ninja
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) informed exercises are one of the best ways to build resilience and manage mental health.
And guess what? ThinkNinja is an app created by Helios to help children manage their mental health.
Does your child often feel anxious, stressed, moody, or has unhelpful thoughts? Don’t worry these emotions can be triggered by external pressures such as exams, social anxiety, and difficulty in making friends.
No need to spend hefty amounts on psychologist visits as the ThinkNinja app covers it all.
Remember that it is just made to provide support to children facing similar issues.
You can easily download this app for free from the App Store as it is available on all Apple and Android iOS smartphones and tablets having 10k+ downloads,
4. Dreamy Kid
Kids can do a lot in their lives but their mental health must be stable to achieve big things.
In 1993, in West Village in New York City, Ty Wenze experienced episodes of depression along with panic disorder.
She was suggested yoga by her doctor and that helped her but did not completely vanquish the scary symptoms.
In the era of the internet, she started learning coding and later realized that it was time to enter into the mobile frontier.
She then combined her love for technology and desire to help children and formed the DreamyKid app.
This app is created specifically for children filled with guided meditations. This app was made to de-stress kids, making them calm to give children peace of mind.
This is an easy-to-use app, and a useful tool for kids and teachers as well. It consists of sleep-focused meditations to help children at home.
5. Smiling Minds
Unlock the smiling faces of your kids with a world where your children’s imaginations become their superpower.
Welcome to Smiling Minds, an app that takes young minds on a remarkable journey towards inner peace and emotional strength.
Smiling Minds is Australia’s largest mindfulness meditation app co-founded by Jane Martino and James Tutton in 2012. They established the organization intending to promote mental well-being and mindfulness practices, especially among young people and schools.
This app has meditations for different age groups like 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, 16-18, and older adults.
This is not it as it also contains classroom guides for school children of the same age groups.
Training your child to focus seems difficult often but with the Smiling Minds app, they can practice focus easily.
It helps your child to practice focusing on specific sensory input, goals, wishes, and elements like fire and sir.
Smiling minds focus on several other areas too such as self-awareness and self-control.
It claims to be the number 1 Apple Health and Well-being App 2018- Australia and trusted by over 7.8 M people.
It has about 3.5 million app downloads, 11.7k monthly website visitors, and 55,000 educators using the Smiling Minds app. Smiling Mind’s revenue is <$5 Million.
6. Headspace for Kids
Who doesn’t want their kids to be happy and healthy for the rest of their lives?
Believe me, teaching them about meditation early in their lives can help them a lot.
It will not just make your kids calm and relaxed but also teach them to be creative, compassionate, and kind.
It wants your child to grow up being comfortable with who they are. Both kids and adults can leverage this amazing app.
Headspace makes your little ones’ lives easier and fun-filled than ever before.
“Maintaining a healthy and happy mind is essential throughout life, but there is no better time to learn than when we are young,” explained co-founder of Headspace Andy Puddicombe.
I help children to meditate which in turn relates to their peaceful sleep. It makes meditation simple and teaches life-changing meditation skills.
Just download the Headspace app on your phone or tablet and here you go, anywhere, anytime you can access it.
The Headspace app made an estimated $235 million in 2022, through the $10 a month subscription it charges to access its library of wellness guides.
Till 2022 it had 3.3 million paid subscribers and has been downloaded over 70 million times, with 301k monthly website visitors.
Conclusively, the successful case studies of the above mental health mobile apps for kids showed the importance of such apps in the lives of children. These apps are an example of the positive impact of technology. Moreover, the successful case studies of mental health apps not only showed their importance in children’s well-being but also presented a compelling case for developers and entrepreneurs. The demand for such apps is proven and the potential for financial success is considerable. By developing high-quality mental health apps developers can contribute to society as well as can achieve their success.