At a time when kindness, especially to ourselves, has never been more important, Samaritans Self-Help offers people practical ways to cope and stay safe if they’re going through a difficult time.

The app aims to provide a means of accessing support for people who may struggle to use Samaritans’ listening service, or who may find it difficult to express how they are feeling when talking to someone.

Samaritans Self-Help features a mood tracker that allows people to record how they feel. It recommends evidence-based coping techniques based on how you’re feeling, as well as activities that others have found useful when experiencing similar feelings.

Samaritans product manager Felix Macpherson said

“Since it launched in May 2020, over 18,000 people have registered for Samaritans Self-Help. We’ve received lots of feedback from users telling us that they’ve found it helpful. Based on this positive response, we’ll be continuing to develop the app through consultation and co-creation with existing and potential users. Initially, we’ll be focussing on ways we can help people stick with self-help long-term, as well as starting to release new techniques to try in the coming weeks.

If you’ve not yet checked out Samaritans Self-Help, and think you’d like to try learning techniques for coping with distress and improving your wellbeing, you can find it on our website at www.samaritans.org/selfhelp. If you need urgent support and would like to speak to a volunteer, please call 116 123.”