SAM app review: self-help as you’ve never seen it before

Introduction

Developed by the University of the West of England, SAM provides an innovative approach to managing your anxiety and determining exactly how it affects you and what specific areas of your life and behaviors trigger your negative thoughts and feelings.

I think this is a wonderful idea for an app and it has been presented with a great deal of knowledge and expertise behind it. Increasing your mindfulness is crucial to overcoming issues such as anxiety, and with the exercises and tools in this app I think a lot of people are going to benefit greatly and enhance their quality of life significantly.

Improve Your Way of Life

Upon first starting up this app, you’ll be presented with the main menu which includes links to the eight main sections.

You’ll probably want to begin by tapping on “Working with SAM” as this section contains loads of details explaining what SAM is intended for, how to get the most out of it, and other assorted information to help get you on your way to a happier mind.

The section entitled “How’s my anxiety right now?” allows you to move four bars which represent anxious feelings, worrying thoughts, unpleasant physical sensations, and avoidance of things you fear. This tool enables you to track how you’re currently feeling and then view the results in the Anxiety Tracker so you can monitor your progress over time.

Other Great Features

One feature of SAM I particularly like is “My anxiety toolkit” which enables you to add your favorite features from the app into one convenient place so that you’ve got a go-to section for getting exactly what you need when you need it most.

There is also a section where you input things that make you anxious, with the option to insert additional notes and even set reminders for yourself so that you can remain as mindful as possible and proactively prepare for the things which trigger your anxiety.

All in all, I think this app is absolutely brilliant, and it even has a social feature so that you can connect with others users and exchange feedback and kind words of encouragement with one another.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Become more mindful of your anxiety and what causes it
• Useful techniques for managing your anxiety when it hits hardest
• Connect with other users to share experiences and receive feedback and encouragement

 

Cons

• There is nothing negative to say about this app

Final Words

I really would like to urge any sufferers of anxiety to check out this app.

It’s absolutely free and contains a huge amount of useful tools and information, and you can even use it to compliment more formal therapy or counseling sessions if you wish.

The University of the West of England has done a fantastic job with SAM and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their quality of life but doesn’t know where to start.