We tried three apps designed to improve and assess your mental well-being on International Day of Happiness
A smile, a laugh, a jump for joy - happiness is so much more than the terms frequently associated with it, and certainly more than a Pharrell Williams song. Even experts struggle to unpack the term. As for us, we'll just settle on anything that isn't sadness. And today being International Day of Happiness - a concept ideated by philanthropist and former United Nations advisor Jayme Illien to facilitate a global happiness movement in 2012 - we decided to see if it can be achieved through technology. So, we take three free apps for a spin.
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Innerhour offers specific programmes as well as online therapy
A chatty affair
Innerhour is an app developed by a Mumbai-based counselling centre of the same name. The app offers guided activities like progressive muscle relaxation, massage, deep breathing, as well as stress assessment.
Allie is a chat bot who comes in aid of the user for emergency relief
Our high scores in the stress test came as no surprise, but what genuinely caught our fascination was the Relief Box section where you can chat with Allie, a bot and happiness buddy. It asks us what our current mood is. When we say we're tired, it suggests listening to thumping music. We expect a YouTube link to pop up but a track is sent to us and instantly lifts our mood!
VERDICT: Never thought a bot Could make things better. Will keep using this.
RATING: 
Headspace offers select audio playlists for sleeping
Happy naps
We've consistently been using Headspace for weeks before sleeping, listening to the voice of co-founder Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk, who actually has the kind of voice that can instantly sell a product (which in this case is his own app). But the narration here isn't just the standard "breathe in/breathe out" talk.
The app also offers a detailed narration that incorporates motivational quotes
He describes terms like emotion and happiness in detail. But that's not all, there are special sleep packages with natural sounds - like a treehouse, for instance - where the voice of the narrator and ambience is adjustable.
VERDICT: Helps us sleep. Will return.
RATING:
Happify includes a game where the user is instructed to click on positive words
All fun and games
Playing a game has always been a great escape from reality. So when we come across Happify, an app that offers science-based activities, we are intrigued. The sign-up process is more like an assessment of your current mental state, and we love how the questions are worded in a non-academic manner.
The assessment survey has catchy questions
You can choose between two modes: community and private. We choose the former as it lets us view posts by people from around the world, ranging from daily things people are thankful for to motivational write-ups. We finally try a game called Uplift, where users gain points for clicking on positive words, but there are negative words, too! And you lose points for tapping on those. That can be demotivating. While it has a wide range of functions, it can take a while to find what truly makes you happy here.
VERDICT: Can be distracting. Won't return.
RATING:
Hemangi Vyawahare, clinical psychologist
Expert speak
* Technology influences happiness in many ways. Ideas of achievement and an ideal life are now influenced by profiles of people we follow. Profiles are curated according to what we think others will like and so we want to share this with the world. So the expression of happiness has changed. Now we can share something that makes us feel happy with a number of people.
* We recommend apps like Tranquil, an Indian app, because it's a beautiful tool to keep track of your thoughts, feelings and emotions.
* But happiness is subjective. Each person expresses and experiences it differently. So for some, physical tasks work better while others would prefer to go digital.
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