Mental Health App

Stress Research

• a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation (1)

• stressful situation causes physiological cascade of hormones as part of the "fight or flight" stress response (2)

• Chronic stress over long term contributes to high blood pressure, arterial plaques, obesity, and brain changes that may contribute to anxiety, depression and addiction (2)

Nationwide survey Canadian Association of College and University Student Services (3)

• 89% were overwhelmed with all they had to do

• 86.9% feeling exhausted

• 64% feeling alone in the past 12 months

• 56% overwhelming anxiety

• 54% are hopeless

• 10% seriously considered suicide

Behavioral Activation (4)

Here is a list of activities and opportunities which would greatly influence

• family/social/romantic relationships

• education/training

• employment/career

• hobbies/recreation

• volunteer/charity

• physical/health (diet, sleep, exercise)

• spirituality

Mobile Application Goals

• Targets post-secondary students facing stress - broad audience  

• Stress as a general term, not alienating anyone with the use of medicalized terms (e.g. anxiety or depression)

• Promotes mental health and wellbeing to cope with stress

• It may act as a prevention tool for the development of mental illness

• Applicable for students at risk for/with mental illness

Putting the brakes on stress

• If students can learn ways to cope with stress during their time in post-secondary, they may be able to prevent the development of chronic stress and long-term negative health consequences

• Stress still contributes to the highest level of Academic Impact, resulting in lower grades or a desire to drop the course entirely.

The event sparked our adventure to build a series of activities catering to the relentless pursuit of interesting ideas. The focus was placed on two important features: "Walk it Off" and "Eat it Off", tools to apply a sense of physical space with digital land markings. The capitalization of local community locations offers a sense of disconnect by proximity. Engaging with this closely proximate space, users would be able to quickly shift their tone and focus their attention rather than what they're currently involved in.

Other forms of distractions were in the form of content consumption-related distractions. I added ideas such as: "Add It", "Laugh It Off" and "Read It Off" which are all forms of content that disassociate from the currently stressful activity. However, its limitation is that the user remains in an active stressful environment, or nearby where the stress could still influence their decision-making and well-being. The goal of all activities is simple, disengage from the stressful situation physically and mentally. Return to the situation as needed to resolve or conclude and move forward. "Walk It Off" and "Eat It Off" are both instances that address the physical and digital disengagement while the rest only offer a single mode. It is still important to have these side options in the event removing the user from the physical environment is challenging.