California is tackling the youth mental health crisis head-on by offering two free apps to families. These apps have valuable resources, including live coaching, that can benefit kids, teens, and young adults.
It’s part of a realization of just how important mental health is to our overall well-being.
“Nationwide for many years, rates of anxiety, depression, and self-harm have been climbing,” said Autumn Boylan of the California Department of Health Care Services.
The issues are especially prevalent among youth and now the state of California is doing something to help.
They’re introducing two apps loaded with free mental health services, part of a $4.7 billion dollar initiative.
“All of these efforts are aimed at trying to think about how we deliver services and supports to youth in ways that we haven’t done before, like through their phones,” said Boylan.
The apps provide mental health resources and even live coaching with no income or insurance requirements.
The first app is called Brightlife Kids. It’s for those under 13 and has digital resources for common issues.
“For example, sleep, tantrums, issues at school, worries, sadness, organizational skills, ADHD,” said Amrita Sehgal of Brightline, the company that makes the app.
“So you’re able to access content like articles, videos, audio, exercises, all related to those specific needs that you may be facing,” said Sehgal.
Help is available in 19 languages, with live coaching done via phone, video or chat.
“So this is so this is really a way to come in, get free access to mental healthcare, to support for your kids when they need it and even before they need it, to avoid issues escalating,” said Sehgal.
Soluna is the second app. It’s for those 13 to 25 years old.
“So instead of focusing so much on treatment, we really believe that every youth can benefit from having access to coping skills, building resiliency, and then early access and intervention as well,” said Bob McCullough of Kooth, the company that makes Soluna.
The app provides self-guided resources, moderated peer communities and live coaching.
“So many teenagers and young adults we find are really struggling with some mental health issues, but they don’t always feel comfortable talking about those. Either to peers or parents or even others. And so this gives them an opportunity to be able to access resources on their own, at their own time,” said McCullough.
These apps are a helpful step in the right direction, and several other states are implementing similar programs, but keep in mind they are not a replacement for professional healthcare needs, and the long-term benefits are still to be determined.
Still, it’s a great step in the right direction and readily available to all residents.