Apps can be a wonderful way of helping you manage and track your moods and other health related information. Here is a collection of the best for 2017 that many have found helpful.

Bipolar Disorder Connect

Bipolar disorder can be isolating, especially if you don’t have anyone close to you that can identify with your struggles. Bipolar Disorder Connect is there to connect people with bipolar disorder no matter where they are. This tool gives you access to a community of people living with the condition. You can ask and answer questions as well as make new friends. The app also features tracking tools to help you monitor your moods and share those updates.

Bipolar Disorder Guide

The first step to managing bipolar disorder is to truly understand it. This goes for people who have received a new bipolar diagnosis and for the friends and family who support them. The Bipolar Disorder Guide app has considerable educational value for both. Its main feature is an informational guide to this mood disorder, with chapters focused on treatment options, coping mechanisms, support group resources, and more.

BrainWave Tuner

A unique approach to achieving control over mood, the BrainWave Tuner uses audible brainwave frequencies to help people get control over their moods, pain, stress, and more. Of particular interest to those suffering with bipolar disorder may be the programs designed for meditation, destressing, self-hypnosis, focusing attention, and inducing sleep. There are also ambient sounds that you can play in the background, making it a great app for general relaxation.

Breathe2Relax

When it comes to the highs and lows of bipolar disorder, sometimes people just need a break. Learning how to regulate your moods as best as possible can be difficult, but deep breathing and relaxation can help. The Breathe2Relax app gets our vote because it’s a simple deep breathing app that requires you to slow down and relax. It teaches you how to breathe from your diaphragm and can assist in easing anxiety and stress.

DBSA Wellness Tracker

The DBSA Wellness Tracker comes to us from the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. Its user-friendly interface was designed to help you manage all aspects of your health. Track your daily activity, moods, medications, and other symptoms. It’s a great tool to share with your doctor, giving you one place to store all of your observations, triggers, and symptoms.

DBT Diary Card and Skills Coach

Dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, is a type of therapy that is sometimes used to treat bipolar disorder. This app uses the principles of DBT, with a skills coach and a behavior tracker that work in conjunction to help you slow down, analyze your thoughts and feelings, and apply what you’ve learned for better moods and outcomes.

Happier

Being happy can be a matter of outlook. While no one would suggest that bipolar disorder can be “fixed,” there’s little doubt that having a more positive attitude can help you manage stress and moods. Happier is an app that works to keep you optimistic by introducing you to a community of like-minded people, and giving you a place to journal your thoughts and feelings. This app can also sync with your Apple Watch.

How Are You

If you’ve ever wondered what situations in life affect your mood the most, the How Are You mood tracking app can help. Log your moods and the situations that influence them, view trends over time, and even get tips for how to improve your mood on a daily basis. The app features a mood test that can analyze your psychological well-being, and we like the Gratitude Diary that gives you a place to reflect on the positive things in your life.

iMoodJournal

Tracking your moods is one way to begin understanding them. iMoodJournal makes this process easy. Alerts remind you to check in and choose from a colorful scale of mood labels. There are also hashtags to help you organize your thoughts and triggers. We like that you can visualize hashtags on a chart to identify any correlations between how you feel and your sleep patterns, medications, or other identifiers. The app also links to Facebook if you want to check in with friends and family.

InFlow: Mood Diary

When you are first diagnosed with bipolar disorder, you’re often told to keep a journal of your feelings and moods. This helps keep you aware of the effects of the disorder and the effectiveness of treatments as well. In Flow is just one option for tracking these. You can share your emotions with your friends, and as you use it, you can learn to identify trends and triggers.

Mental Illness

Though awareness about mental illness has come a long way, there is still a stigma. The stigma of mental illness is largely based in ignorance, and that’s where this app comes into play. It is an educational resource designed to teach you about various mental illnesses. Sharing it with friends and family members of those affected with bipolar disorder can provide real value.

Moodlytics

If you’re searching for a mood tracker with a ton of bells and whistles, Moodlytics may be right for you. Yes, you can track your ups and downs simply with text, but you can also use emojis, attach photos, journal your feelings, set reminders, set mood goals, log moods from days passed, and more. The more you log, the better your feedback will be, as you can create charts that break down just how often you’re feeling a certain way.

Moodtrack Diary

Wild, dramatic mood swings are par for the course when you live with bipolar disorder. The Moodtrack Diary app is designed to help you get a handle on them, or at least learn how to better predict and manage them. We like the graphing feature that allows you to view your moods over time. This may help you identify trends and cycles.

Optimism

When you have bipolar disorder, ignoring how you feel means trouble. Instead, identifying when a depressive episode is coming can help you redirect and possibly avoid the worst of your symptoms. Optimism is designed to help you identify and work through your feelings as they arise, rather than when you’re in the midst of trouble. According to the app makers, it helps you learn your triggers so you can recognize early warning signs. It does this primarily through mood and trigger tracking, and also lets you create reports to share with your treatment team.

T2 Mood Tracker

Brought to you by the National Center for Telehealth and Technology, the T2 Mood Tracker takes a simple, clean approach. If you’re looking for a bunch of bells and whistles, this may not by the app for you. The T2 Mood Tracker is free of clutter, allowing you to rate your moods by sliding a bar to the right or left, and add notes about your medications and treatments.