Like much of the tech world, mental health apps are being churned out faster than research can catch up. And turns out, that catch-up game is crucial to empirically evaluating the effectiveness.

• There are a plethora of apps to test, and researchers can have a hard time thoroughly evaluating them all.
• The research that has been done is limited and lack standardized measures.
• Research shows that these apps aren’t consistently used for long.

A nascent field

A 2016 article published in the journal Nature breaks down a few studies which highlight the vast amount of apps that have yet to be tested.

A 2013 review⁸ identified more than 1,500 depression-related apps in commercial app stores but just 32 published research papers on the subject.

Mental health: There’s an app for that (Nature, 2016)

With a market flooding with apps, that means a majority can fly under the scrutiny of government officials and scientists. Here’s an example where researchers looked at a handful approved by the UK National Health Services, and found them to be less than trustworthy.

[T]he NHS launched a library of “safe and trusted” health apps that included 14 devoted to treating depression or anxiety. But when two researchers took a close look at these apps last year, they found that only 4 of the 14 provided any evidence to support their claims.

The studies that do exist, however, lack an overarching framework for evaluating these apps. A 2019 meta-study published in the journal npj Digital Medicine, their findings suggest that frameworks have missed popular apps and “are often discordant in their existing evaluations.” There is a clear gap between the research and how consumers actually use their apps.

However, it’s not clear how big of a risk these unregulated apps pose. At the very least, they make take up memory on a phone. At worst, they could harm the users health or discourage them from getting professional treatment. At this point, it’s hard to say.

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Little sustained usage

A 2019 study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research found that consumers stop using mental health apps within a few weeks. Less than 10% of consumers used the mental health apps for more than 10 days. The median of retention rate for these apps was 3.9% after 15 days, and 3.3% after 30 days.

The study also found that the apps that had the highest level of daily usage were the ones focused on mindfulness/meditation and peer support. Other studies also indicate that mental health apps often don’t promise treatment per se, but may market themselves as “mood boosters.”

So while the lack of research on these apps could be a flag, it doesn’t seem like false marketing on all ends. You may just get your five dollars: a helpful reminder to breathe deeply or clear your mind. It doesn’t seem like these apps are on track to replace therapists just yet.