Does your stomach knot up when you have to give a presentation in front of the class? Or do you feel like walking up to the group standing and talking in the schoolyard? When you are in situations that are psychologically challenging, UiT – Norway’s Arctic University wants you to pick up your mobile and open their new app Opp! It can give suggestions on how to master the situation. The app will provide knowledge about mental health, and exercises that can help when you recognize a mental challenge. Among other things, they have created several different scenarios based on examples given by young people themselves, and suggestions on how to deal with them. – The app is two-part. One part provides information, and the other provides exercises and tips on how you can handle the difficult feelings, says associate professor at UiT and project manager for the app, Henriette Kyrrestad. The app will be launched in the autumn. Kristian Daljord and Asen Nechev have been involved in testing the app. They have also provided input on how the app should be. Photo: Mathias Sommerseth Kjellmo / news Must reach young people where they are – We must try to reach young people where they are, and they are on the screen. Then help aimed at them should also be easily available on screen, says Kyrrestad. Kristian Daljord and Asen Nechev are both on the Tromsø youth council, and have been testing the app for several months. They agree that it is a good idea to put help where the young people are. – We see a lack of options where young people actually spend their time, says Nechev. Asen Nechev in the youth council. Photo: Mathias Sommerseth Kjellmo / news He believes the app can convey information and help on a platform that many people are already used to. – We have been involved in providing input on how the app can be developed and how he can reach out to young people, says Daljord. Both he and Nechev think it is important that those who will use the app have had a hand in creating it. – This should be an app for all young people, whether they feel sad, scared, angry or even happy. The app will help you explore your feelings, and help you find out how you actually feel and what you can do about it, says Nechev. Henriette Kyrrestad is associate professor at UiT and project manager for the app. Photo: Mathias Sommerseth Kjellmo / news Easily accessible help – Having help easily available in your pocket when you need it can be very useful for many, says Kyrrestad. Every fifth young person reports poor mental health within a year, 1 in 10 have suicidal thoughts and a third of young people have concerns related to mental health, according to Mental Health’s latest report. The app should be a tool you can use when you experience difficult feelings. – Then there are a number of exercises in the app that enable you to master the situation you are in, explains Kyrrestad. In addition, the app has videos that provide a guide to breathing and relaxation exercises. – The app also provides information so that those who need it can realize that they may need a little more help than the app, and then there is a link to other help agencies related to what they are struggling with, explains the project manager.
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This app will help young people deal with difficult feelings – news Troms and Finnmark
