Dealing with Anxiety problems? There's an app for that

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Anxiety Coach is an app that helps you combat stress and anxious feelings by delivering therapy through your iPhone.

The app is built on a fairly simple premise. It contains nine voice recordings, podcasts if you will, from an American psycholgist Dr. Neal H. Olshan. Each recording or “boost” address different reasons people feel anxious. He goes through each one, explaining why it’s all okay and you can do it.

Topics covered include Dating, Flying, Sports, and Test Taking. The latest addition is one on Depression.

The idea is that if you’re facing a difficult situation you can put your headphones on, fire up the app and receive some quick soothing wisdom, then calm down and get on with the task.

While it’s clearly not going to solve all your problems, it is a like a little psychological boost. Makers Xcelme market the benefits a little bit like probiotic yoghurt – it will make you feel better and

There’s a fun, though expensive feature where you can email him your particular problem and get a customised Boost. That’s $23 though.

There’s a growing trend towards delivering psychology or Cognitive Behaviour Therapy through computers. Smartphones and apps have made it more prevalent, and apps delivering therapy have become quite common. Something I like to call therappy, though not many other people do.

Anna Leach