The bustling city life of Hong Kong seems majestic on the outside. However, surviving the conundrums and stress in the fast-paced metropolis isn’t easy. If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed lately, let’s take you through the ten best mental health and wellness apps in Hong Kong that’ll rejuvenate your spirits.
Mental health disorders are on a significant rise
Depression, anxiety, psychological distress, burnout– mental health issues are at an all-time high in today’s time. Call it the vicious loop of social media, hustle culture or sedentary lifestyles, there are several reasons hindering or undermining one’s mental health. According to the World Health Organisation, one in every eight people or roughly 970 million people around the world were living with a mental disorder in 2019. This figure rose significantly in 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a 26% jump in anxiety disorder cases in just one year. Meanwhile, cases of depressive disorders saw a 28% increase.
Did you know that people suffering from severe mental health conditions die 10 to 20 years earlier than usual? Startling, isn’t it? And with under-resourced health systems as well as treatment gaps around the world, getting effective treatment at a low cost is a mirage. Not to forget the stigma as well as discriminatory treatment received by those undergoing treatment.
Thankfully, there has been an exponential rise in the number of mental health and meditation apps. They’re built to help you find peace and tranquillity in everyday life. From connecting you with therapists and tracking your sleep and lifestyle patterns to engaging you in interactive games and quizzes as well as introducing you to meditative processes – these apps are all-encompassing.
If you’re struggling to find the best mental health apps in Hong Kong, don’t worry. Our list takes you through the top 10 mental health apps for effectively reducing stress.
Best mental health apps in Hong Kong to effectively reduce stress
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Headspace
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Best for: Meditation, sleep, stress, mindfulness
Available on: Google Play Store and App Store
Cost: Around HKD 540 annual subscription fee
About the app: Headspace takes into account everything your mind needs. From proven courses and expert-led guidance to boost your mental health and guided meditations and programs to alleviate anxiety to exercises and relaxing sounds that’ll put you to sound sleep – the app offers it all. It’ll declutter your mind in a short span of time, helping you go about your day mindfully.
Calm
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Best for: Meditation, sleep and relaxation
Available on: Google Play Store and App Store
Subscription: Around HKD 390 annual subscription fee
About the app: The app’s motto? Stress less, sleep more, and live mindfully. Hailed as the ‘world’s happiest app’, this award-winning wonder is a multifaceted application featuring meditations, stories, music, soundscapes and more to lead listeners to a state of calm. Apart from the wide range of meditation and mindfulness content, Calm has a variety of sleep stories, breath exercises, movement practices and music that are customised to tailor your needs.
Stoic
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Best for: mood tracking, journaling, meditations, and reflection
Available on: Google Play Store and App Store
Subscription: Around HKD 390 annual subscription fee
About the app: The app leads you on the path of peace and tranquillity using the stoicism philosophy. Offering hundreds of guided journal prompts, Stoic helps you boost productivity and relationships, keeping stress and anxiety at bay. Featuring a mood tracker, gratitude journal, meditations, quotes and prompts for reflection – it helps you analyse emotional triggers to build a balanced life.
Aura
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Best for: Mental wellbeing and sleep
Available on: Google Play Store and App Store
Cost: Around HKD 468 annual subscription fee
About the app: Marketed as a personalised, all-in-one wellness app, Aura works on a smart AI algorithm to curate guided meditation and gratitude lessons, nature and sleep soundscapes and more to suit specific needs. From meditation, hypnosis and breathwork to CBT, short stories and motivational tracks – there are so many options to put your mind at ease. If you’re new to meditation and practising mindfulness, Aura is a great place to start.
UpNow
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Best for: hypnotherapy for mental and physical well-being
Available on: Google Play Store and App Store
Subscription: Around HKD 773 annual subscription fee
About the app: Christine Deschemin, a long-term Hong Kong resident and a certified hypnotherapy practitioner launched UpNow in 2020. Aimed at making hypnosis mainstream, the app helps you improve your health, kick bad habits and transform your life. The app offers guided hypnotherapy sessions on topics such as weight loss, sleep and stress management that eventually help you rebuild your mental and behavioural framework. This creates a new mindset for fostering healthier habits and better behaviour.
Healthy Minds Program
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Best for: Meditation
Available on: Google Play Store and App Store
Cost: Free
About the app: Curated by world-renowned experts and backed by neuroscience research, Healthy Minds Program offers easy-to-complete lessons and guided meditations tailored to your personal needs. You can choose from seated and active meditations, ranging from 5-30 minutes in length. There are also podcast-style lessons taught by some of the world’s leading scientists and meditation teachers. Lastly, the app also provides reports of your current level of well-being and how it has changed over time. Apart from meditation, you’ll gain insights into why the brain behaves as it does and how that impacts overall well-being.
Moodfit
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Best for: Tracking mood, thoughts, feelings and behaviours
Available on: Google Play Store and App Store
Cost: The basic version is free. Premium version costs around HKD 312 annually.
About the app: The app uses tools and sessions to help you understand your feelings, recognise negative patterns and how to change them. You can track everything from your sleep, and nutrition to exercise as you embark on your wellness journey. What really stands out in the Moodfit app is its analytics. It has really easy-to-interpret charts which help you spot patterns in your mood and how each activity impacts your wellbeing. You’ll also find gratitude practices, sleep exercises as well as breathing techniques to keep you on track.
Ten Percent Happier
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Best for: Guided meditations and practising mindfulness
Available on: Google Play Store and App Store
Subscription: Around HKD 780 annual subscription fee
About the app: With world-renowned leaders offering various approaches to meditation, podcasts to combat mental stress and a lot more, the app will surely leave you (a lot more than) 10% happier. The app has a vast digital library of over 500 guided sessions that help you reduce anxiety, manage anger, or sleep better.
Rootd
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Best for: Overcoming panic attacks and anxiety
Available on: Google Play Store and App Store
Cost: Around HKD 140 annual subscription fee
About the app: If you’re dealing with panic attacks or massive bouts of anxiety, Rootd will help you face these situations head-on, find comfort quickly, help you understand the root cause of these feelings and eventually assist you in building an anxiety-free and panic-free life. By introducing you to ‘short-term lessons’ and ‘long-term lessons’ around anxiety and panic attacks, the app prepares your mind to tackle these feelings in the future and erase their occurrence completely.
Happify
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Best for: Overcoming negative thoughts, stress, and life challenges
Available on: Google Play Store and App Store
Cost: Around HKD 1000 annual subscription fee
About the app: Happify offers science-backed exercises and games to help you take charge of your feelings and thoughts. An easy-to-use, self-guided app, it uses cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) skills and positive psychology to help you connect with your inner self and train your brain.
(Hero image credit: Julia Avamotive/ Pexels)
(Feature image credit:Valeria Ushakova/ Pexels)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Some of the best mental health apps in Hong Kong include Headspace, Calm, Stoic and Aura.
Yes, mental health apps offer support, guidance and lessons to combat stress, burnout. However, they can never replace professional in-person therapy targeted at dealing with severe mental health illnesses.
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Written by
Kriti Nayyar
Senior Digital Writer, Wellness, Culture, Astrology, Tech
Kriti is a stay-at-home dog mama, whose knack for telling interesting stories keeps her erstwhile monotonous life sane. A literature & journalism degree holder, you'll find her binging on Agatha Christie novels while critiquing the everyday state of affairs. On Kriti's seldom social outings, she's seen devouring coffee sangria with appetizing bread on the side.
