The best Stress Management mobile apps of 2020

Stress statistics are escalating everywhere. Global chaos, financial hardships, work-life tensions, relationship concerns all mix up to grow stress that manifests itself in heart disease, lost work hours and even long-term health disorders. It’s a serious issue which needs to be looked at with attention.

How can I manage my stress?

Stress is a part of life for just about everyone. Sometimes it is not easy to recognize stress because we are caught up in the flow of life. The things in your life that cause you stress are called stressors. Often, stressors are things you cannot control. These could be events (like losing an important item) or conditions in your life (like not getting along with a family member). Your responses to these stressors are your stress reactions.

It may be possible to change or remove the stressor – for example, you may be able to change your job, your work schedule, avoid difficult people or unpleasant situations. But in many cases removing the stressor is not possible. In this situation, you need to change your stress reaction. Here are some strategies to help you:

• Mental responses: You cannot control all parts of your life, but you can control your response to stress and keep a positive attitude. Identify your “thought habits” that can make stress worse (most of us have a least one).

Here are a few examples:

• Deciding right away that it is going to be really bad, without even looking closely at the facts Looking only at the bad parts and not seeing the good worrying about problems that are really not yours.

• Emotional responses: Figure out your emotional reactions to stress and talk about them.

• Physical responses: Try deep breathing and relaxation exercises.

• Behavioural responses: Decide what you can change about the stressor – for example, you may be able to change your job, your work schedule, avoid difficult people or unpleasant situations. Take action and do it. Keep up your healthy habits. Spend time with friends and family.

Which are the best apps for stress management?

While there are many apps which can be used for helping you with your stress, we are listing a few of them which have been quite effective and well designed. These are by far the best stress management apps of 2020. They are listed in the order of preference.

Aurum:

It’s one of the best stress management apps globally. They have their own unique programs on stress management, anxiety and others. It's based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) which is the most well adopted approach to tackle emotional issues like stress and depression etc. It’s designed in the form of easy to go through modules and has a lot of guided audio activities which one can use. They are based on Mediation, Mindfulness, Grounding and help you relax in the moment, calm yourself down in a stressful situation, make you more mindful of everyday situations, help you sleep better, focus better and much more. There are quite a few activities to choose from. The best part is you have access to an expert coach at all times to help you and guide you throughout. The entire app is quite easy to use and beautifully designed as well. They also have expert therapists that you can connect with if required and address your issues. It’s quite an ecosystem with loads of tools to help you out.

Breathe ball:

It’s a stress relieving guided audio app. There are different activities that you can listen to and relieve your stress. Easy activities and quick relaxation. Again, they lack access to professionals.

Relax Lite:

It's another app which has good content for one to read and can help you with your stress.

They have tips on how to manage stress and what are the simple ways which you can atleast improve on your current stressful situation. You won’t get access to a coach though.

Destressify:

It has guided text to help you with steps to follow in case of stressful events. You can also get some tips on how to decrease your stress etc. Content is good and can be quite useful. Apart from that they also have few videos that can be useful in times of stress or to help you relax in general.

What is the best approach for using these apps?

While all these apps have some features which will help you manage your stress they take different approaches. If you like self-help in easy to use modules with option to talk to an expert coach, you should go for Aurum. If you think breathing activities help you the most you can go for Breathe ball. In any case most of these apps have a freemium model so you can always try them before you go for a subscription. That is the best way to ensure you are comfortable with whatever app you use. You can also use a combination of these apps but its suggested not to use more than 2 apps at a go because you won’t be able to utilize the resources of the apps in that case.

So these are the top apps which you can download now and which will help you manage your stress in the best possible way. While each app is different in its own way the purpose is same – to help you handle your stress. You should try out the top ones and see which suits you best. Most of them have a freemium model so there is a lot to try for free as well. For your benefit we have also listed the apps in order of our ranking so you can start from the top and move down if required. We believe that these apps will prove quite useful to you in your stress management and improving your life.