Mobile apps to prevent self-harm

Mobile app-based interventions are programs designed to offer psychological or behavioral support through a mobile device , such as a phone or tablet. These tools allow people to access therapeutic resources without needing to attend an in-person appointment, or between appointments, representing an innovative and accessible alternative in the field of mental health.

Digital interventions, especially those based on mobile applications, offer several key advantages: immediate accessibility, anonymity, real-time intervention, and flexibility to adapt to user needs. Furthermore, they allow access to people who might not otherwise seek or be able to access in-person help.

Why an app to combat self-harm?

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSI) is a public health problem with a significant impact on those affected, their families, and the healthcare system. While less common a few years ago, it is becoming increasingly prevalent among young people. This is a major concern for professionals, especially because it has also become normalized; this behavior is no longer unusual and has become somewhat "normal" among young people. This is worrying. We know that it is a phenomenon that spreads easily through social media and that, when self-injury is recurrent, it can be a risk factor for suicide.

Many people who self-harm lack access to specialized treatment or professional help. In this context, mobile applications are emerging as tools that can offer an accessible and personalized initial approach to self-harm.

Socio-educational intervention with young people who self-harm

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Complement conventional treatments

A recent study published in Internet Interventions analyzed 16 research projects on apps designed to reduce self-harm (Julià et al., 2025). These apps were Ecological Momentary Interventions (EMIs). EMIs provide real-time support based on how the user is feeling at that moment. The study's results were promising: many apps helped reduce the frequency of self-harm and improve emotional regulation. Furthermore, they were well-received by users. However, the authors note that further studies are needed to confirm their effectiveness.

These interventions can collect real-time data on the person's emotional and behavioral state and offer specific and personalized interventions.

Unlike traditional treatments, which promote skill acquisition in clinical settings, EMIs allow for the application of skills learned in therapy to everyday life . These interventions can collect real-time data on the individual's emotional and behavioral state. Based on these assessments, the application can offer specific, personalized, and contextually relevant interventions (Heron & Smyth, 2010; Patrick et al., 2005).

This type of intervention is especially valuable for addressing self-harming thoughts and behaviors , which often appear as emergencies. In these critical moments, many people do not have immediate access to health resources or recall previously learned coping strategies. By intervening at that precise moment, EMIs can offer effective support in real time and within the person's natural environment (Balaskas et al., 2021).

Joaquim Puntí Vidal

Clinical psychologist. Head of the Child and Adolescent Psychological Treatment Section and the Adolescent Mental Health Day Hospital

Consorci Corporació Sanitaria Parc Taulí de Sabadell

"We have gone from teenagers facing the world to teenagers afraid of the world."

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Kalmer, an example of an application

In Catalonia, the Greta group has developed an app called Kalmer , as part of a study funded by the Fundació la Marató de TV3. Kalmer was developed through a collaborative effort by many expert professionals working in hospitals, who are aware that a segment of the population has limited access to public mental health services and therefore lacks the opportunity for treatment.

Kalmer gives us the opportunity to access those young people who are at risk and structure a low-intensity treatment that can be carried out independently.

Kalmer is an EMI-type application that offers a brief experimental intervention, with content based on scientific evidence, and is an opportunity to be able to access those young people who are at risk and structure a low-intensity treatment, that is, without going to a hospital or without having to make visits, but can be carried out autonomously.

Currently, Kalmer is being evaluated in young people aged 14 to 24 who self-harm as an expression or symptom within a context of emotional distress or difficulty regulating emotions. Study participants include both young people already connected to the mental health network and those who are not.

More information about the study and how to participate in it.