8 Encouraging Apps for Battling and Overcoming Addiction

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The growing trend of “Sober September” is simple in concept: no drinking alcohol in September. Goals include healthier blood sugar levels, losing weight, liver health, and overall increased awareness. Whether you’re tackling Sober September alone or with a group of friends, or looking to change your lifestyle entirely, there is a line of apps created specifically for people who are facing up to their habits and working on their addictions. Here are the best options.

Nomo

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Nomo is technically a “sobriety clock” that tracks how long you have been sober so that you can feel proud of what you’ve accomplished. But most of the value is in its other excellent tools. This includes a message wall from the community for encouragement, the option to link with anonymous partners to share your sobriety clocks for accountability and friendship, journaling, simple games to distract you at sensitives times, and a lot of other excellent features.

At various milestones, you’ll earn rewards and see how much money you are saving, too, making it ideal for Sober September. You can choose to do as little or as much as you want, but great in-depth tools are available and it’s all free to use!

Pear reSET

Pear reSET

Despite the odd name, this app is one of the best for going through a short-term program to cut back on bad habits or potential addictions, specifically substance abuse. It uses a 12-week “prescription digital therapeutic” that’s FDA-authorized. This walks you through lessons (complete with quizzes so you really absorb it) and provides medals as you stay sober.

There are also other valuable exercises like tracking your emotions, cravings, and triggers to better understand your own behavior. If you aren’t working with a therapist or counselor you do have to complete all the lessons on your own, but there are few apps better for those who are serious about studying and improving their lives.

WEconnect

WEconnect

WEconnect is an incredible app, but it does come with an important caveat: you need to be sponsored by a WEconnect partner first before you can use it, as it’s designed primarily for aftercare. That means members need to be very serious about tackling an addiction, which could involve professional help or clinic visits.

That being said, the app itself offers an amazing program that includes milestones, checkups, reminders, tracking, self-care help, and connections to your real-life support system (including recovery programs of your choice). The coolest feature, however, is the ability to earn rewards and gift cards by filling out surveys about your mental health and completing sobriety challenges – an approach that gets great results according to WEconnect’s tracking.

I Am Sober

I Am Sober

This is a tracker and pledge app that helps you keep on track day to day. It has a number of optional tools, including a calculator to see how much money you saved, withdrawal timelines so symptoms don’t surprise you, and trigger analysis. But we especially like the ability to share your journaling and journey with others (anonymously) and check out the inspiration or advice that others on similar journeys have for the community.

SoberTool

SoberTool

SoberTool has basic trackers for staying sober and how much money you are saving, plus some motivational messages, which may be all some people need! But if you want to dig deeper, there are a lot of useful tools to explore. One of our favorites is a search tool that offers lessons or reminders based on what you search, so you can just describe how you’re feeling in the moment and get resources to help out. If you are afraid of relapsing, you can fill out quizzes about your mood to get direct answers on what to do, right now, to shift your behavior patterns. There’s also a chat forum where people can discuss their own journeys.

Sober Grid

Sober Grid

Sober Grid is designed to be more of a social network than a tracker. You create an anonymous profile and join a news feed/message board with others. You can set privacy filters to hide as much or as little as you want, find local people in your area going through the same struggles, and make specific requests for help. Competitive people will also enjoy unlocking badges and quests. Sure, there may be a lot of general platitudes on your feed, but there are also real people trying to get through the month (or year, or day) just like you are, which can be very helpful.

BetterHelp

BetterHelp

BetterHelp takes a different approach: It actually connects you with licensed therapists and counselors online that you can message with. The app works with over 10,000 of them with various needs, from anxiety to addiction. If your work on sobriety is going a lot harder than you thought, this free app is an excellent way to get some professional advice, without the burden of visiting a clinic in person. You can even schedule live sessions if you need to.

Pocket Rehab

Pocket Rehab

Pocket Rehab is filled with familiar tools, but all of them are done very well and fit together cohesively. That includes smart sobriety searches, recovery trackers, inspirational messages, earning rewards, talking on a wide variety of message boards, and daily check-ins. It’s a good option for busy people who still want access to a helpful app that helps maintain sobriety.


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