Santa Barbara County Behavioral Wellness to offer free mental health app to community

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. -- Santa Barbara County residents can now sign up for Headspace, a mental health and wellness app, for free courtesy of the county Department of Behavioral Wellness.

The Behavioral Wellness Help @ Hand team joined a statewide collaborative project offered by the California Mental Health Services Authority to offer 5,000 free apps – in both English and Spanish – for people in the community.

The app was created with one mission in mind – to improve the health and happiness of the world, said Suzanne Grimmesey, spokeswoman for the department.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a negative toll on the mental health of many people both globally and nationally, and created new problems for those already suffering from mental illness and substance abuse disorders, Grimmesey said.

The Behavioral Wellness Department learned that nearly 61% of participants in the county's community mental health survey reported worse mental health symptoms due to the pandemic, and nearly 27% reported being bothered by feeling tired and having low energy, according to Grimmesey.

The app offers meditation and mindfulness and can provide relief from stress, help with increasing movement, sleep, and focus, according to Grimmesey.

"As we move forward from the significant disruption which the pandemic has played in our lives, taking care of our mental health is critical for self-care and building resiliency as individuals and as a community," she said.

"With this in mind, we can move forward in our recovery from the impact of COVID-19."

The Headspace technology reaches 70 million users in 190 countries and was one of the first meditation apps in the world, according to the Department of Behavioral Wellness.

Click here to sign up for Headspace at no cost.