ePST

Mend is ideal for those experiencing anxiety and depression due to a break up with a significant other. The app utilizes mindfulness approaches as well as symptom tracking of mood and depression related behaviors in the form of a digital journal. Short guided audio exercises are provided daily for the user, incorporating behavioral strategies to implement to boost mood, alleviate anxiety/depression, and maintain wellness through periods of grief. Mend also provides a journaling opportunity after each session to briefly respond with specific thoughts and targets for how to modify thoughts or behaviors moving forward. The app is free for the first week and can be purchased by month, every three months, or yearly for subsequent self-care trainings each with a different daily topic of improvement.
Read the Professional Review for Mend: A Professional ReviewAvailable for: Requires iOS 10.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Developer: Mend Tech, Inc.
Type of Treatment: Mindfulness, Symptom Tracking/Self-Monitoring
Targeted Conditions: Mood Disorders, Stress & Anxiety (focused specifically on loss of relationships)
Target Audience: Adolescents, Adults
Designed to be used in conjunction with a healthcare professional: No
Languages Available: English, Spanish
Cost: Free with in-app purchases
Get it on: Apple App Store
No evaluations of the efficacy of Mend exist. The strategies contained within Mend are follow recommendations for therapeutic interventions following heartbreak as advocated by Fisher and colleagues (2016). This includes adopting interventions similar to those used in addictions such as self-expanding exercises (Xu et al., 2010) or mindfulness-based approaches that aim to alleviate the symptoms of heartbreak that align with addiction (i.e. cravings, relapse, and withdrawal). Therefore, Mend appears to contain some evidence-based principles, but would benefit from formal evaluation.
Fisher, H. E., Xu, X., Aron, A., & Brown, L. L. (2016). Intense, passionate, romantic love: a natural addiction? How the fields that investigate romance and substance abuse can inform each other. Frontiers in psychology, 7.
Xu X., Floyd A. H. L., Westmaas J. L., Aron A. (2010). Self-expansion and smoking abstinence. Addict. Behav. 35 295–301.
We review apps against rating criteria developed by experts in the field. Some of those criteria are:
We look at the research supporting the technology and the credibility of the development process.
We review privacy policies to see if key pieces of information about what happens with entered data are addressed.
We explore how fun, functional, easy-to-use, engaging, and interesting the technology is.
A professional in a relevant field downloads and uses the technology and writes a narrative review, highlighting pros & cons and some recommendations for use.