June 28, 2017

Excel At Life's Stop Panic & Anxiety Self-Help and The Worry Box in Healthline's Best Apps for Anxiety
by Monica A. Frank, PhD

Five years in a row Stop Panic & Anxiety Self-Help and The Worry Box have been selected by Healthline as one of the Best Apps for Anxiety.

Stop Panic & Anxiety Self-Help was designed by Dr. Monica Frank based upon 30 years of experience as a cognitive-behavioral therapist treating depression and anxiety. The app provides many of the cognitive-behavioral methods that she used with clients -- in an easier to use format than paper-and-pencil! A popular feature of the app which is also available on Excel At Life's website is the Panic Assistance audio which uses the CBT techniques to talk people through a panic attack.

The Worry Box teaches people about use the CBT methods to manage worry. One of the central features of the app is the Worry Box Diary in which a person can record events that caused distress, evaluate their emotions and self-talk, and choose statements to help challenge the self-talk. This is a core feature of CBT and can be most helpful when shared with a therapist.

Both apps contain articles and audios to help manage anxiety. The Mindfulness Training audios are particularly useful for managing anxiety.

Healthline's comments about The Worry Box:

"Put your worries away in a box! While that statement seems too good to be true, this app’s idea is to help you deal with and manage your worries. You keep a personal diary in the app where you input your worries. The Worry Box then helps you decide if the worry is unimportant, important, controllable, or uncontrollable. Depending on the worry, the app will give you techniques to help manage it, like next steps or coping statements to tell yourself."

Healthline's comments about Stop Panic & Anxiety Self-Help:

"This app is for users who’ve experienced panic attacks due to a panic disorder. In addition to keeping a personal diary, the app comes with three sets of audio: panic assistance, emotional training, and relaxation. The panic assistance audio is meant to coach users through a panic attack, while the emotional training audio trains users to access a calm state. The relaxation audio helps users reduce stress and relax the body."

Frequently, people ask about an iPhone app. Although this app isn't available for the iPhone, what many people don't know is that an inexpensive ($45) Android tablet listed on Amazon can work very well with Excel At Life's apps. A data plan is not necessary as the tablets can be used with wifi. So if you have an iPhone, for a minor investment you can use this app on an Android tablet.