Meditation, advice, psych follow-up… Are mental health apps still popular?

by time news

“Little Bamboo for children is wonderful. In early May 2020, during a Facebook live in full confinement from his house in Cap-Ferret, Guillaume Canet praised the Petit Bambou meditation application to his subscribers. “It allows you to do breathing exercises in the evening and to fall asleep. It’s so cool. “A hell of a pub – unsponsored – for the small box of around twenty people based in the north of France.

Like the actor, many French people have started to use meditation, well-being, advice or psychological follow-up applications during confinement, whether to find sleep, better understand their emotions, let go of life. daily bustle or practicing mindfulness.

An explosion of downloads

“We had an explosion in the use of the app during confinement”, attests Vincent Bouton, director of operations of Petit Bambou, the first French meditation application. A month after the start of the first confinement, the number of users of the platform has doubled. “The most followed programs were those on sleep, mental health and work. Not surprising since during this period, 20.1% of French people reported depressive symptoms and 16.9% symptoms of anxiety, according to a study by Inserm and the University of Bordeaux.

As for the psychological support application Mon Sherpa, the explosion of downloads during this locked time is even more impressive, going from 15,000 before confinement to 150,000 during. “These figures are a little biased because we made our application completely free at the time of confinement”, however recognizes Fanny Jacq, psychiatrist at Qare and creator of the application.

In order to stick to the needs of the French, exercises dedicated to confinement have even been created for the occasion, such as “how to live with confinement when you are isolated? », « how to manage his addiction problems? “, or even” how to manage the anxiety linked to the coronavirus? » Programs widely consulted during this period.

Become aware of your mental state

“People used this moment to refocus on themselves, analyzes Vincent Bouton. Solutions had to be found to free themselves from their ruminations and their mental load. According to Fanny Jacq, there has been an awareness that mental health is as important as physical health. “We realize that her mental health can be weakened so we will strengthen her, a bit like we do with sport. »

Does this awareness have resonance today? After confinement, the Ministry of Health created an application to follow the evolution of his psychological state. Its name: Mental Garden. “Basically, the application was designed for patients who have psychological monitoring, to help them monitor their symptoms, explains Antoine de Zélicourt, manager of the platform. And gradually, we had more and more users who had no psychological follow-up. »

Thus, today, half of Jardin Mental users have no therapeutic follow-up. By registering their emotions, such as their anxiety, anger or sadness, they can gradually become aware of their mental state. “Making people aware that they suffer from burnout or depression was not our primary goal, but it’s a good thing,” rejoices the person in charge of the application.

New followers of meditation

According to a MoiJeune study by 20 Minutes, carried out in partnership with Opinionway and published on February 20, 42% of 18-30 year olds questioned say that they take “more quiet time just for themselves, without doing anything in particular” compared to the period preceding the Covid-19. A figure confirmed by those of the various applications. “Three years after confinement, there has been no major abandonment, testifies the director of operations of Petit Bambou. We realize that we have rather acquired first-time meditators. »

If 150,000 people had downloaded My Sherpa during confinement, today 300,000 have the logo of the little man in the orange Peruvian cap among their applications. The most used programs are those on anxiety and depression. “If the application will not cure suicidal thoughts, severe depression or delusional schizophrenia, the exercises can on the other hand help to regulate sleep disorders or to try to control the first symptoms of depression or anxiety”, specifies the creator of My Sherpa.

Another novelty in the post-containment world: “People have started to ask themselves questions about their values”, explains Fanny Jacq. The psychiatrist therefore added a program on values ​​therapy to her application. A short program to know your values ​​of life and to know if you live in coherence with them. Another possible realization.

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