Apps that Help you Become Happier

Pre discussion questions

How do you think an app could make you feel happier?

What things make you feel happy?

Sleep Cycle

If you are depressed, it may cause you to have bad sleep. You may find that it is hard to go to sleep and also to stay asleep. That means waking up in the morning can be very difficult, especially if you have to get out of bed in the middle of a deep sleep. But, with the Sleep Cycle app, you may wake up feeling fresher and ready to start your day.

This popular app looks and calculates how much you sleep and wake up during the lightest part of your sleeping. This smart alarm clock can discover your movement during sleep. And then it can wake you up at the optimal time.

Secret of Happiness

Can you find happiness in a month? Secret of Happiness thinks you can. This app has a 30-day challenge.

Every morning the app asks you to think about something that makes you happy. For example, a list of three things you should be thankful for. At night, you respond to a similar prompt. For example you should think of an event that made you happy during the day. With this app you teach your brain to know more about what things make you happy. And then you may find that at the end of 30 days, you know your secret to happiness. 

Positive Thinking

Remember those inspirational posters with famous quotes or messages on them? Now you can have lots of positive, quotes with Positive Thinking that can make you feel stronger. The app has quotes by different writers. You can record your favorite quotes by type or group and save your favorite ones. It also lets you share them on social media.

Smiling Mind

The blues can make people of any age feel gloomy. But, the Smiling Mind app is made especially for young people who have too much stress, worry, or depression. This app was made by psychologists with special training in young people’s problems.  The app helps teach young people about having a calm and clear mind (meditation).

You can keep track of how many minutes you’ve meditated. And you can do a short self-check after each meditation to see if you feel more positive. If you’ve never meditated before, the guided meditations will help you.

What’sMyM3?

The M3 is, basically, a mental health score. And you can have that score, always at your fingertips. Keeping track of your M3 is just as important as keeping track of your blood pressure and other health levels. That’s where this app helps. What’sMyM3? gives the user questions and decides your M3 score from your answers.

It is not an official diagnosis, but the results can give you a good feeling of how much your worry or depression is hurting your everyday life. A high score shows that it may be time for a mental health check.

Positive Activity Jackpot

When you’re depressed, it can be hard to enjoy fun activities. Positive Activity Jackpot does the hard part for you.

It helps you find things to do near you that you’ll enjoy. There is also a feature that allows you to invite friends. If you can’t make a decision between activities – which can be hard for people with depression – the app has a function that will decide for you.

It’s important to know that you don’t need a doctor to check about using this app, but it shouldn’t be used as a substitute for help by someone qualified.

Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.

 The answers are below the table.

A=4, B=8, C=1, D=7, E=2, F=6, G=5, H=3

Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.

1.      The optimal way to improve your English is to study the same amount every day.

2.      The student could not answer the teacher, so the teacher prompted her with a hint.

3.      Nelson Mandela was an inspiration to many people because he didn’t hate the people who put him in prison for more than 30 years.

4.      He has been feeling the blues since he broke up with his girlfriend.

5.      My boss has asked us to keep track of how many people are asking about the new product.

6.      The good thing about living in a big city is that everything seems to be at your fingertips.

7.      The doctor diagnosed my sickness as a virus that many people were getting sick from this winter.

8.      Online dating is no substitute for real dating.

Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.

1.      Which of the apps above would be optimal for you? In none, why not?

2.      Do you feel prompted to get one of these apps? Has today’s reading prompted any ideas?

3.      Describe someone who has been inspirational for you?

4.      When did you have the blues? How do you fix the blues?

5.      Have you ever kept a diary to keep track of your feelings? Do you think it is a good idea?

6.      What phone app do you find most useful to have at your fingertips.

7.      If you were diagnosed with depression, what would you do?

8.      Can these apps be a substitute for talking to a friend, or they just help? Discuss your thinking.