Use a Smartphone to Improve Your Mood

According to a study reported in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, brief, directed smartphone exercises can help quickly improve your mood. Psychologists at the University of Basel and their international colleagues reported that participants in the study felt more alert, calmer and uplifted after using five-minute video tutorials on their smartphones. The subjects could choose between various established or more modern psychotherapeutic exercise modules known as micro-interventions. Some of the participants, for example, recalled emotional experiences during the exercise, while other test subjects repeated short sentences or number sequences in a contemplative manner, or played with their facial gestures. The subjects recorded their mood on their smartphones, answering short questions by marking a six-step scale both before and after the exercise. Those who succeeded in immediately improving their mood through the brief exercises benefited over the longer term as well: Their mood improved overall during the two-week study phase.

The videos are available free of charge to anyone who is interested, allowing them to be used for future studies as well. It should be noted that the videos cannot replace treatment by a qualified professional for people suffering from depression or other psychological disorders.

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of Basel. To read the full article, as well as get access to the videos, visit https://www.unibas.ch/en/News-Events/News/Uni-Research/Smartphone-exercises-for-a-better-mood.html.