Help improving young people's mental resilience

The mental health of young people is deteriorating rapidly. Meanwhile, youth care services can't keep up with their demand for help, resulting in long waiting lists. To support young people, UvA scientists developed the mobile app Feelee. This app offers young people insight into their habits and emotions. With your support, the researchers can expand the app with an advice module that helps young people change their behavior and thus break the vicious circle. Will you contribute to this smart solution?

Average waiting time for youth care 10 months

The number of young people who suffer from mental complaints is increasing every year. In 2008, 1 in 27 young people requested psychological help for mental problems, in 2020 this was 1 in 9. Meanwhile, the average waiting time for youth care is 10 months, due to the increasing demand and limited budgets for care providers. How can science respond to this social problem?

Insight into emotions and habits

Mental health starts with awareness of your emotions. UvA scientists have therefore developed the free online application Feelee. Feelee gives young people more insight into their habits and emotions and helps them developing more self-direction. The app keeps track of how much the user sleeps and moves and asks how things are going every day. Young people can indicate this via an emoji: are they happy, angry or sad, for example?  Feelee then offers insight into the relationship between their behaviour patterns and emotions, enabling them to manage their habits and emotions more effectively.

Added value Feelee

Previous research has already shown the added value of the Feelee app. 'Young people indicated that they really liked "leaving their feelings behind",' says Levi van Dam, UvA researcher and co-creator of the app. 'Feelee helps young people to park their emotions on the dashboard and to talk about them at a later, appropriate time with a counselor, friend or family member. I thought that was really nice to hear. That Feelee is a place where they can go, to take a moment for themselves, as it were.'

Personalised counselling

The researchers now plan to expand Feelee with your support. They aim to develop a module based on scientific insights, offering young people personalised counselling and tools to improve their mental resilience and change their behaviour. This will help the target group break the vicious circle of mental health problems. The module is specifically targeted at 16- to 20-year-olds who have the capacity to independently modify their behaviour, but need digital support to do so. Want to contribute to this smart solution?