Left to their own devices: the significance of mental health apps on the construction of therapy and care

Abstract Mental health (MH) mobile apps offer convenient, low/no-cost automated psychological support. Little is known about what this technology does to the very definition of MH care. Looking through a post-phenomenological lens (Idhe, 1991), we examine how the app's materiality mediates the construction of psychological care. Through interviews with MH app users, analysis revealed that users experienced a detached and abstract kind of care, which ignored their real-life circumstances and particulars, and was not sensitive to the complex, context-dependent nature of their problems. Instead, the apps amplified a mechanistic and individualistic idea of psychological wellbeing. Meanwhile, the apps concealed the importance of interpersonal understanding, healing spaces, and sharing as meaningful parts of care. Some found this to be an impersonal and inappropriate way to deal with emotional problems, while others lamented their own inability to conform to the app’s ideals.