Every day we find weird apps that promise to make our lives better: helping us avoid people we’d rather not deal with, showing us places to pee and giving us reasons to drop our phones in a food processor.
Today we’ve found one that has actually changed people’s lives for the better.
A new app called A-CHESS (Addiction-Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System) has recently been designed to help recovering alcoholics stay sober or reduce risky drinking. Participants using the app were 65 percent more likely to stay sober in the year following their release from a treatment center, compared to others who left the center without assistance from the app.
The app issues messages daily and asks questions once a week to help counselors get an idea of the kind of struggles the user might be having with sobriety. It acts like a stand-in best friend as it keeps users more accountable to online counselors and help centers by alerting the user if they are nearing a bar they used to frequent or their favorite liquor store. The ‘panic button’ provides instant access to distractions, reminders or even a nearby friend who can come give them support.
“It does seem a little intrusive, but for people who are really battling with alcoholism, they need a lot of this type of monitoring and ongoing support,” Dr. Scott Krakower, a drug addiction specialist said to a reporter at Health Day. “They do well in controlled settings, but when they leave the center and go back into their environment, they are at risk for relapse.”
The app may not be public yet as agencies pay $10,000 a year for access for up to 100 patients but with inventions like this, we can hope to see our smartphones have a positive impact on our lives.
