Therapiva: Fight Your Anxiety

Approximately 40 million American adults have an anxiety disorder. Almost 40% of them are more anxious than they were at this time last year. And many therapists believe that these disorders are on the rise. There are several different kinds of anxiety disorders: • Panic disorder — Characterized by panic attacks, sudden feelings of terror that strike repeatedly and without warning. • Obsessive-compulsive disorder — Repeated, intrusive and unwanted thoughts or rituals that seem impossible to control. • Post-traumatic stress disorder — Persistent symptoms that occur after experiencing a traumatic event, such as war, rape, child abuse, a natural disaster, etc. • Nightmares, flashbacks, numbing of emotions, depression, and irritability are common. • Social phobia — Extreme, disabling and irrational fear of something that really poses little or no actual danger. The fear leads to avoidance of situations and can cause people to limit their lives. • Generalized anxiety disorder — Chronic, exaggerated worry about everyday routine life events and activities; perpetual anticipation of disaster accompanied by physical symptoms, such as fatigue, trembling, muscle tension, headache or nausea. If you’ve experienced any of them, you've probably noticed that these irrational fears can create a significant disruption in a person's functioning and well-being. Dealing with anxiety can mean sleepless nights, missed opportunities, feeling sick, and full-blown panic attacks that can keep you from feeling like your full self. Thus, it’s so critical that you seek treatment. Developing this app, we aimed to help people with any type of anxiety lead a productive, fulfilling life, by learning to manage fears and overcome anxiety without medications. Our app is based on a thought-stopping technique which is commonly used in cognitive behavioral therapy and includes 3 steps: Step 1 - List your most stressful thoughts. Step 3 - Imagine the thought. Step 3 - Stop the thought. Our app is easy to use and beautifully designed. We’ve implemented these features for your convenience: ***Timers*** Standard timers are 3 minutes to think about your anxiety and 30 seconds to rest. However, you can change them the way you like. ***Nature sounds*** Once the time is out, you will hear a STOP signal and then soft nature sounds. That will help you to stop focusing on anxious thoughts and think about something pleasant instead. ***Voice recording*** You can either use default STOP signal or record your own and lower your voice with each record when you feel that you are ready, as supposed in original practice. At first, shout "Stop!" out loud. Then record your normal voice. After your normal voice is able to stop the thought, try whispering. Over time, you can just imagine hearing "Stop" inside your mind. At this point, you can stop the thought whenever and wherever it occurs. ***Notifications*** You will receive notifications not to forget about your sessions. It’s really important because without them our app might not be effective enough. ***Diary*** A diary within the app is built to help you notice and challenge the thinking that leads to panic. ***Statistics*** Based on your sessions, the app generates charts and statistics to help you analyze your thought patterns — and, in many cases, come to the realization that your worries are unfounded. To master this technique you will learn to focus on the unwanted thought and then say "Stop" to end it. It will take practice, but after a while, your brain will do this on its own. When anxiety strikes, it can be difficult not to give in to the obsessive “what-if” thoughts that consume your attention. It’s an uncomfortable experience that is hard to ignore, but with a little practice using thought-stopping exercises, those worries will finally vanish. *Some people may need more help to stop unwanted thoughts. Talk to your doctor or therapist if you want more help to stop thoughts that bother you.