The Brain Explorer app
Scientists at University College London have collaborated with several research facilities to develop an app, that will help us understand how our brains develop during adolescence and throughout our lifetimes.
By playing the fun games, you will be helping researchers understand why most mental health problems, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), emerge during adolescence and how different brain mechanisms influence how we think and feel.
This will allow the researchers to understand how different brain mechanisms are linked to mental health problems and may help to find new treatments in the future.
The NOCD app
This app contains trustworthy information about OCD and has several tools to help you manage your exposures. One feature I like is the ‘SOS: OCD Episode Support’, which looks like a little rubber ring icon on the homepage. This feature allows you to do a free, self-guided or therapist-guided session based on your OCD subtype. The SOS sessions are pre-recorded transcripts that are free to use and very useful if you find yourself in an OCD spiral and in need of support.
The app will offer to match you with an ERP-trained therapist for a course of online therapy but there are many useful, free features available, regardless of whether you’re having treatment with NOCD or not.
NOCD was founded by Stephen Smith, who has OCD himself and is backed by a great clinical team which includes Dr Patrick McGrath. The app is well worth a download in my opinion!