Helen | Devpost

Cognitive distortions have been scientifically shown to increase depression and anxiety. Fighting them is crucial in therapies such as CBT.
Helen's home page
How the cognitive model of emotions works. This is shown in the information section of the app.
Helen uses a simple questionnaire to get to the bottom of the user's anxieties and identify any cognitive distortions.
When the questionnaire is completed, the app gives you details on your cognitive distortion and how to mindfully correct it.
Users can log thoughts and cognitive distortions for future reference -- for therapy or just to know how their anxieties change over time.
In its instructions, Helen provides information on cognitive distortions and how core beliefs and thoughts affect distressing emotions.

Inspiration

According to the APA, 41% of college students experience excessive levels of anxiety, and 36% experience excessive levels of depression. This has only increased over time and is now a current crisis, and I wanted to address it. I was inspired by therapy aids showing the different cognitive distortions, as well as students talking about how hard it is to pinpoint and challenge their anxieties in the moment. I thought an interactive tool could help students challenge their anxieties without feeling as alone while doing it.

What it does

Cognitive distortions, or negative biases in our thinking, can be the root of difficult-to-combat anxieties. Helen uses cognitive behavioral therapy techniques combined with a binary search tree-based dichotomous key (in other words, an interactive flow chart) to help you determine what cognitive distortion you might be experiencing. It gives you questions to help you challenge these anxieties and keeps logs of them for use in therapy.

How we built it

I used Android Studio, particularly XML and Java codebases. I used data structures such as binary search trees and hash tables. I made the graphics myself and drew from different psychology texts.

Challenges we ran into

I'm still learning new features of Android Studio, and the documentation is inaccurate when it comes to what code can be used and what is outdated, so there was a lot of trial and error. In addition, because of the way Android Studio variables work, the log was difficult to make and store, so right now the number of anxious thoughts logged is limited. I've started on a SQLite Room database to resolve this.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I'm proud of getting a better grasp on intents in Java, as well as employing more data structures to make my code cleaner.

What we learned

I learned new ways of using Android Studio, including intents, data structures, and Collections, as well as the basics of Room and SQLite databases. I also learned more about XML as a language and the structure of Android apps beyond just the Java code.

What's next for Helen

More fleshed-out opportunities for logging your anxious thoughts and related distortions, as well as embedded options for logging resulting emotions and core beliefs and a feature to connect them.