“[A mental-health app] is an extremely personal choice and a complex process involving many variables.”
–Cristen Reat, BridgingApps Program Director
It’s been almost five years since we first highlighted our partnership with the Division of Digital Psychiatry at BIDMC, led by Dr. John Torous. (“BIDMC” stands for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a top teaching hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School.)
Their MindApps database, based on app-evaluation criteria from the APA (American Psychiatric Association), still ranks among the best resources we know for choosing mental-health technology. The database (official name M-Health Index and Navigation Database, or MIND) now includes over 650 options, searchable by health condition, treatment type, privacy settings, or price, among other features.
MindApps Update
As of May 2025, here’s what BridgingApps and BIDMC say about MindApps and its uses.
Amy Fuchs, Program Manager at BridgingApps:
- MindApps is particularly useful to our clients when used alongside the BridgingApps database. Both offer reviews and use various search filters; but when used together, they provide a more complete picture because they look at apps from different angles. BridgingApps leans toward more subjective information, such as user-friendliness and use-case narratives [scenarios describing which populations could benefit from an app, and how]. MindApps is more focused on objective data, like what privacy policies are in place.
- I love that MindApps is FREE—that helps us feel comfortable sharing it with our clients [many of whom are on limited incomes]. MindApps is also very user-friendly: it’s easy to search for an app by name, or with filters that describe what you are looking for.
- I also like the Community section, especially for browsing blog topics under the News tab.
Dr. John Torous, Director of the Division of Digital Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center:
- People like searching for metrics that matter to them personally: cost; app maker; level of clinical evidence; and the like. Most people have a combination of features they are looking for. MindApps lets them search however they want, for whatever they want.
- We just released a mobile-friendly version of the website that allows smartphone users to take a quiz and see what apps may match their needs. This is very popular right now.
- Another very popular feature is that the app is no-cost.
- We use the Community section to post updates and news about the MindApps project. We also use Community to bring our volunteer app-raters and our supporting community together.
- We update every app rating at least twice a year, so there is so much work our team, Easter Seals, and our network of highly trained and dedicated volunteers do!
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