Feel Stress Free With Thrive || Review

I'm no stranger when it comes to talking about mental health on ByBusby; I've been very open with my experiences & progress so when I was saw a new app emerging to help battle these problems I thought why not give it a go. I've teamed up with the creators of Thrive to test out their new app & share my thoughts with you. I was super excited because I've never come across an app targeted at mental health (I haven't really looked to much!!) & since it was focused on helping with stressors it is well suited to me. For the past month I've been using it when I feel the need & here's my feedback.

Setting up

This app isn't the most straight forward to set up purely because if you want to use the app it does have a charge which you have to set up an account for. You can download the app & then sign in but firstly you can to go to their "site" & create a user. Obviously at this stage you have to organise a payment plan which is really easy or enter a discount code (which I've got one to share). Once that's all sorted you've just got to sign in within the app & you're good to go. I don't use a lot of paid apps but this is one you can justify spending on.

Graphics

On to how the app looks; which of course is very important as you need it to be engaging. The app unfortunately is landscape which I don't particularly like. Probably more to with me being lazy but hey just preferences, however I do understand why it is & it works for the concept. The concept of the app is three islands which you can switch to. The overall appearance is really great & suits the theme of the app, everything is very calming & simple to use. I haven't had any real problems with any lag or shutdowns so that's a plus. You also get lots of tutorials for each area & the information is readily available at all times.

Help islands

Mood island

The first island you experience is all about tailoring the app to you. This is where you complete your mood meter by stating how you feel & then selecting the reasons behind it. There's tonnes of reasons within the app so you can select what really applies to you.

Once you've established your mood it creates goals for you to complete within app & outside of the app. The island also has your progress section which you can review what you've completed within the app & see how your mood has fluctuated.

The wellbeing section has more in-depth explanations & treatment options for the general stressors which you can access & use when you need. There is also a really great message in a bottle option which you can send & receive positive messages anonymously. It's such a lovely option which is so simple but helps people within the app connect & spread good vibes.

Therapy island

The next island is the help island with all the help aspects. There's a bunch of different therapy options to test out. I haven't used the island much as it's all about finding time to give yourself a break & really involve yourself.

The options suggest using headphones to get the full experience which is't something I usually opt for. I never usually have them to hand or use apps with any volume but that's just me. It's also not a great idea if you have an phone with a headphone option!

Each option gives you a different method to helping with your stress which means there's something for everyone. If you don't like on option I'm sure there's going to be another that works for you. I actually found the options really soothing & the "coach" is really calming. I think this island is something you have to try for yourself to really understand how it can help.

Zen island

The final island is the zen area which you have two options; zen garden or challenge. Each are really simple to use. The garden is designed to keep you busy & let you get creative. There's a bunch of options to choose from so there's something for everyone.

The zen challenge involves the garden again but gives you really simple tasks within it to keep you thinking. It's not something that will cause any difficulty so there's no chance of getting stressed.

I wasn't necessarily fussed on using these options as I find I can use other game apps to distract me & I enjoy more of a challenge but this island is well suited to the app itself. I think people who enjoy being more creative would enjoy these options.

Overall

I really loved the concept of this app & how it is designed to help those suffering from mental health issues. The app does what it said & creates a great place to document how you are progressing, as well as providing help along the way. It's super easy to use & there's lots of different elements to choose from so I think it would suit a lot of people.

On the other hand I think it is much more suited to people who are looking for an app to use actively rather than myself who uses it occasion. You would get a lot more benefits from the app if you used it daily & partook in all the different methods of "therapy".

The only downside to the app I can see is the diagnoses element which I think it unnecessary & not very accurate. Even though their are disclaimers for obvious reason I didn't really like it or need it. I entered the app knowing what my issues were & the app didn't really grasp those issues. All the help & tasks it provides really were great so I don't personally feel there's any need to give me a diagnosis after every mood meter.

If you would like to give the app a try yourself I have a discount code for you to activate throughout November. Use code FSFNOV302017 to test it out for yourself. It is a one month code so use it wisely & let me know your feedback too!!

Shelley xx

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