ReliefLink vs Mindfulness Coach

*ReliefLink is an innovative free app developed specifically for suicide prevention and more generally for improving your mental health that brings confidential and supportive help right to the palm of your hand! ReliefLink enables you to create a personalized profile that includes pertinent information such as your mental health professional’s contact info, insurance coverage, and current medications. Track your mood and thoughts daily, create a safety plan, make a list of reminders (e.g. appointments, take medication, etc.) and check out the unique coping methods such as voice-recorded mindfulness and relaxation exercises or simply enjoy relaxing music! Need to find mental health help near you, especially in a crisis? Use the Map Locator to find the closest hospitals or other mental health treatment facilities. You can also find help through the therapist and support group links. **Use the Emergency button to view options such as Call 911, Helpline, Counselor, and more. And for encouraging messages or up-to-date mental health news from the ReliefLink Team, follow us on Twitter @relieflink! The ReliefLink App was developed for the purpose of entry into the SAMHSA Suicide Prevention: Continuity of Care and Follow-Up Mobile App Challenge in August 2013. The app won 1st place in the contest in September 2013 and was presented at the White House. *This is app is a supplemental tool to help the user manage his/her daily mental health, monitor suicidal feelings and thoughts, and offer options for seeking help. It should not be used in place of professional mental health or medical help. **The ReliefLink team urges anyone having a medical emergency to call 911 immediately.

Mindfulness means noticing and paying attention to what is going on in the present moment, without passing judgment on it. Mindfulness has been shown to be effective for reducing stress, improving emotional balance, increasing self-awareness, helping with anxiety and depression, and coping more effectively with chronic pain. Mindfulness Coach 2.0 was developed to help Veterans, Service members, and others learn how to practice mindfulness. The app provides a gradual, self-guided training program designed to help you understand and adopt a simple mindfulness practice. Mindfulness Coach also offers a library of information about mindfulness (for example “What is Mindfulness?”, “How to Anchor Your Attention”), 12 audio-guided mindfulness exercises and a growing catalog of additional exercises available for free download, goal-setting and tracking, a mindfulness mastery assessment to help you track your progress over time, customizable reminders, and access to other support and crisis resources. Mindfulness Coach is free, doesn’t take or share any of your personal information, and doesn’t require add-on purchases. Mindfulness Coach was created by VA’s National Center for PTSD.