Mood Mint – Boost Your Mood app for iPhone and iPad

4.2 ( 2592 ratings )

Health & Fitness
Developer: Jason Pegg

3.99 USD

Current version: 4.1.1, last update: 3 years ago
First release : 26 Apr 2013
App size: 36.6 Mb

Mood Mint combines a variety of psychological techniques to help boost your mood, and reduce stress, anxiety and depression.

There are 4 main components to Mood Mint (all backed by hard science):

1) COGNITIVE BIAS MODIFICATION
Attentional Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM) is a computer-based therapy that gets the user to repeatedly select positive information over negative information. The aim of the game is to tap the positive image as quickly as possible. In this way, CBM helps train your brain to automatically focus more on positive information in your everyday life.The result: less stress and a happier you.

Studies show that Bias Modification can effectively lower anxiety with as little as 2 hours of treatment. A number of studies have shown that CBM can also help to alleviate depression. After several weeks of CBM, participants showed increased activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex – the area of the brain associated with more positive, happier thinking.

Mood Mint allows you to fully customize the Cognitive Bias Modification game – edit, delete, or add your own images for a personalized CBM experience. Add pictures of things you are grateful for, happy events and people that are special to you and give them a positive charge. These will also help to trigger the release of ‘feel-good’ chemicals during each training session.

If you would like to find out more about Atttentional Cognitive Bias Modification (ACBM), and how it is being used to treat anxiety and depression, please visit BiasModification.com

2) HAPPY NOTES
Slides will appear during the cognitive bias modification session. These are loaded with bite-sized mental health tips, facts, stats, techniques and exercises to help boost your mood. You can take your time reading the slides and carrying out the exercises as the timer will stop while they are on screen.

All of the Happy Notes are based on leading research and theory in psychology and neuroscience fields. Each and every one of them can help to lower stress and anxiety, and improve overall mental health and wellbeing.

Go to Settings to edit and add your own happy notes to the program.

3) POSITIVE WORD SEARCH
Just as focusing your attention on negative or threatening information can trigger the release of stress chemicals like cortisol and adrenaline, so focusing on positive information can trigger the release of ‘feel-good’ chemicals like serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins.

Research in the fields of psychology and neuroscience have shown that our brains automatically releases feel-good neurochemicals whenever we focus on a positive word.

The word search is designed to trigger these ‘feel-good’ chemicals by getting you to focus on positive words. You need to find all 4 of the words listed below the letter grid to complete the word search. Drag your finger over the letters in the grid to highlight each of the words listed.

To maximise the positive psychological effect, try to think of all the positive things you associate with each word as you search for it.

4) BREATHING EXERCISE
There is a guided breathing exercise at the end of each training session. Focusing on your breathing helps to ground you in the present, and triggers the parasympathetic (‘rest and digest’) response, helping you to instantly feel a little calmer. Focused breathing is an important element of mindful meditation, and it comes with a long list of mental health benefits.

Multiple studies have shown that focused breathing meditation alone can help to lower stress, reduce anxiety and depression.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU TRAIN?
The short answer – as often as you need to. For optimal results, you should aim to train for around 5 to 10 minutes per day, and anytime in between if youre feeling stressed, anxious or upset.

To complete the program, you need to earn 10 000 points.

Pros and cons of Mood Mint – Boost Your Mood app for iPhone and iPad

Mood Mint – Boost Your Mood app good for

Eye-opening about where I had been putting my attention and how it was affecting my mood. Hoping for an extended version

Excellent for people with anxiety. Doesnt look so good on an iPad. The images are too small and theres no option for changing the image sizes or screen to fit the iPad.

Im currently working through PTSD and in the past week of using this app Ive noticed a more positive outlook on life in general. The best part is, its a game so I can take the few minuets to boost my mood and play a game. I highly recommend this app to anyone. Its worth the 1.99

My therapist recommended I focus more on the positive. Shortly after, I discovered this app through a BBC article and have found it to be very helpful in treating my specific social anxieties and depression. Im on my phone all the time, and this has helped me to get something great out of that time! Thank you!

I have been using Mood Mint as a way to help my brain let go of whatever is rattling around in it before trying to get to sleep. I like being able to customize the pictures in it to include smiling friends or happy pets.

Amazing app,At the beginning I didnt believe that by tapping a positive picture my anxiety will relieve but it worked!!!

Some bad moments

It is a game where you pick the "happy" image out of four. They are all stock images and the "happy" ones are often someone with an obviously fake smile(no smiling eyes). The other images out of the four are always two grumpy people and fast food. The grumpy people are also faking it making really awkward faces that people dont really naturally make. The other reviews are fake. This could not possibly help anyone feel happy. Do not buy.

I cant speak to the efficacy because Ive only used this four minutes and I actually bought it for my husband. The app works smoothly in the iPad, but is really only designed for iPhones. You must keep your iPad in the vertical orientation and if you want it full screen, you have to just use the "2x" magnification button. Things I would like to see in the next version: Options to have more faces on one screen for the iPad. Ability to use the app with the iPad horizontally, as would be comfortable if I wanted to prop it on the table and do it while eating breakfast. The ability to have multiple users. Better tracking of scores and analytics, saving scores, dates, and times used for each user.

Too early to tell if it has changed my overall cognitive bias but it is easy to use and a short 2 minute session does alter my mood slightly - for the better.

Perhaps Im in too early to judge effectiveness, but I do find myself smiling while doing the exercises. Its rather pleasant--would recommend. In later versions, it would be nice to load a new selection of faces--I feel like a couple of shots are getting primed (e.g. happy swimming man)

Cant believe my therapist got me to pay for this. It works as far as a technical standpoint, but doesnt work for my anxiety.

What a great useful app! I training for about 20 minute for a month and I feel great. It was so fun and I have already noticed a difference. Well worth it!

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