Digital de-stress: Six online tools for wellbeing
De-cluttering your mind and finding ways to bring balance to your life can be challenging without the right tips and advice. These websites and apps can help.
Our mind is capable of thinking about lots of different things at any one time, and sometimes this can result in us feeling stressed, anxious or overwhelmed.
De-cluttering your mind and finding ways to bring balance to life can be challenging without the right tips and advice.
While it is critical to seek professional advice from your local GP, counsellor or psychologist for any mental health issues or concerns, the Internet can also be used as a great additional resource to assist with personal wellbeing.
Whether you’ve just had a bad day or a stressful week, here are six great online resources designed to help keep your mind at ease - from the comfort of your own home.
Smiling Mind is a unique web and app-based program designed to make meditation easy, especially for young people.
A team of psychologists has developed six free mindfulness mediation programs available to put into practice every day.
Beyond Blue is a non-for-profit organisation dedicated to creating mentally healthy environments and supporting Australians currently experiencing anxiety or depression.
Beyond Blue’s blueVoices initiative allows people who have had a personal experience with anxiety or depression to connect with an online community and partake in programs and activities at your own level of involvement.
Reach Out
Reach Out is another great online resource designed to help Australians 25 and under.
The website is easy to navigate, with a helpful section on wellbeing that provides facts and tips on areas such as confidence, goals and motivation and social skills.
Reach Out also offers users the ability to join discuss and ask questions in an online forum.
MindHealthConnect is an online directory with an abundance of mental health and wellbeing information, support and services.
The website features a mood monitor which involves answering a series of questions.
Once complete, you’ll receive tailored tips to help improve your mood and feelings.
eheadspace is an online service complimentary to headspace mental health centres, allowing young Australians aged 12-25 and their families to seek help from professionals via live chat or email.
eheadspace enlists experts who are trained to cover a broad range of issues such as bullying, depression or isolation.
Life Charge App
Life Charge is an app designed to help you track your mood throughout the day, so you can easily identify the positive and negative moments in your life.
- Make time for exercise – be it a relaxing walk or a high-intensity-gym session
- Follow a varied and healthy diet
- Take enough rest and get into a regular sleeping pattern
- Take time out for yourself – even if it's just a quiet cup of tea or taking yourself to the movies once in a while
- Meditate – resources like Smiling Mind are excellent
- Volunteer with your local community – helping others can often end up helping yourself
- Set realistic, achievable goals – cutting them into smaller steps makes it easier in the long run
- Connect with friends and family regularly
Once you acknowledge what is contributing or detracting from your happiness, you can begin to eliminate the things getting you down each day.
Although this won’t happen overnight, the app essentially becomes a journal log to help you reflect and make changes for the better!
This app is currently only available on iPads and iPods.
The availability of online mental health resources can also help those living in rural and remote areas that may not have had access to these resources previously.
Check out our previous blog about how the rollout of the nbn™ network is helping bridge the divide for Australians all across the country seeking help.
If you're worried about someone and professional support is needed urgently, crisis support is available from the following organisations:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
Kids Helpline: 180 551 800