In Short: Google is helping to do its part in honoring World Mental Health Day by highlighting selections from the Play Store, including apps, games and audiobooks, that celebrate, explore and help with facets of mental health. All of the Play Store items highlighted in the promotion for Mental Health Day are related to mental health, and are centered around helping users to improve their own mental health, or learn more about mental health. Each of these highlights is meant, in some way, to give the user some insight into mental health, whether it’s exploring mental illness through adventure game Life is Strange or using AI therapy and counseling app Wysa.
Background: Google has a long history of being highly active in humanitarian and societal pursuits, and using the Play Store for good like this is just another example. Those interested in checking out unique perspectives on mental health through gaming will find Life is Strange and its prequel, which take on topics like depression and bullying. Those looking to reduce that familiar stress that seizes upon them when their smartphone’s screen lights up, meanwhile, may want to check out something like boundary-setting app THRIVE. Daylio will help you track your mood and know yourself better, while Pzizz will help you clear your mind and sleep, and Wysa will use AI to act as a talking buddy of sorts, helping you get things off your chest. A selection of audiobooks, such as Brain on Fire, are also featured.
Impact: Your smartphone or tablet can be a powerful tool in the fight against mental illness, and the selection on offer in the Play Store for World Mental Health Day is proof of that. Promotions like this one help bring such tools to light, helping them to reach a wider range of users. In turn, this immproves those tools in various ways; AI-based tools like Wysa, for example, get better and learn more as more users take advantage of them, while other apps can benefit from feedback given to the developers. Ultimately, the end goal of this promotion and others like it is to improve the overall mental health of the world population.