Calm Urge: Self Harm Tracker

Significant challenges, but also potential

All things considered, I unfortunately am giving this app a 2.5/5 rating. While there are lot of strengths and potential benefits to be gained from the general premise of the app, there are a lot of issues in its execution in my opinion. One major flaw of the free version of the app is that there are ads that frequently interrupt the user. They are long and very disruptive to me, as an adult who is not at risk of harming myself while utilizing the app. For a young, more impulsive person who is actively thinking of harming themselves and looking for instant relief, this is a huge issue. From a neuroscience perspective, the limbic system (which is the social emotional part of the brain) undergoes a large shift at the time puberty occurs (Laser & Nicotera, 2021). This happens around age 12-14 and can lead a young person to seek more sensations and short-term gratification. Additionally, the prefrontal cortex begins maturing later on in the teen years. This can mean the social-emotional part of the brain is highly active without oversight from the decision-making, impulse-control part of the brain (Laser & Nicotera, 2021). Mindfulness activities and an emergency contact function are only useful to an adolescent if they can provide an immediate alternative to self-harm. The 30 seconds required to wait through an ad might be what tips an adolescent with poor impulse-control user over the edge. The app also generally looks cheaply made and is not very visually appealing. There are also major concerns with the privacy policy, as the creator states that users under age 13 are not meant to be using the app and that their data should therefore not be saved. However, when registering the app on one’s phone, the user has the option to select “<12” as their age group, and can still use all the functions on the app within this age group. While it is certainly flawed, the app is not all bad. The premise of it is incredibly important, as around 23% of adolescents have, at some point, engaged in self-harm behaviors (Laser & Nicotera, 2021). The app’s “Daily Track” function asks simple, direct questions to the user about whether or not they have harmed themselves, how they felt throughout the day, and what their major concerns were that day. With adolescents, it is generally best practice to be direct in questioning about whether or not self-harm is happening, how frequently it is occurring, etc (Laser & Nicotera, 2021). Additionally, the ability to share this data from the app directly to a therapist could be really helpful for a clinician working with adolescents, as they likely only see each client for about an hour a week. This way, the young person would not have to try to remember how they felt and acted each day throughout the week. Instead, they can pass along the data that they recorded in real time. Additionally, the options that the app offers as alternatives to self-harm are strong. First, the “emergency call” function allows the young person to add three custom emergency contacts. Connectedness to parents and to nonparental adults are both protective factors for young people against suicidal ideation and self-harm (Laser & Nicotera, 2021). This emergency call function encourages the user to at least identify three safe adults that they can lean on in times of distress. It hopefully also encourages the user to follow through and make the call to an adult when necessary. Finally, the app’s mindfulness activities provide genuinely enjoyable and distracting alternatives to self-harm, as intended. There are a wide variety of options, with high-quality sound bites and engaging, interactive components. All things considered, the free version of this app has immense potential, with significant challenges in its current state.

love this but

amazing app i perfer this over anything but i recently relapsed and i attempted to go into the app and it asked me for my passcode which i swore i ised face ID so i put in all my passwords and yet none worked and im unable to get in. the "forgot passcode?" button dowsnt work for me either.