Like many people, I’ve struggled with anxiety and panic attacks. At its worst, I thought I would never recover. Spoiler: I have, and that experience of suffering and healing is part of what drew me to become a therapist. Along the way, I’ve learned different methods to support myself and found that feeling prepared with my tool box of coping skills often helps alleviate my anxiety the most. This toolbox includes a handful of mental health apps for anxiety and panic attack management that I’ve benefitted from and recommend to the clients I support in Nashville and across Tennessee.
Disclaimer: I have no partnerships, affiliations, or financial relationships with any of the apps mentioned in this post. I recommend them simply because I’ve used them myself and found them genuinely helpful, both personally and in my work with clients.
A Note on Choosing Mental Health Apps Wisely
Before we dive in, it is important to name that not every mental health app is worth the download or your personal data. The mental health app market is largely unregulated, and many apps make claims that haven’t been clinically tested. It’s worth being thoughtful about which ones you use. The American Psychiatric Association created the APA App Advisor to help people evaluate the safety, privacy, and efficacy of mental health apps before downloading them. I’d encourage you to use this as a resource.
1. Rootd: Panic Attack & Anxiety Relief
Rootd caught my attention after learning the app was developed by a female-led team and is backed by science. It’s designed specifically for panic attack and anxiety relief and combines tools for immediate and long-term support.
Why I Recommend It
My favorite feature is the panic button, a one-tap tool that guides you through grounding in real time when a panic attack hits. Rootd also offers guided breathing and self-soothing visualizations for in the moment support. You can track patterns over time using their stats page or their anxiety journal. The app also offers educational content on anxiety to help you feel more in tune with your body. I love the way it addresses anxiety holistically, and honestly, it’s adorable to use.
Best For
- Panic attacks and acute anxiety
- Building long-term anxiety awareness and spotting patterns
- Psycho-education for anyone who wants to better understand their nervous system
Cost
Free with in-app purchases.
2. DARE: Panic & Anxiety Relief
The DARE app is part of a comprehensive resource called the DARE Response, created by Barry McDonagh who authored a book of the same title.
DARE stands for Defuse, Allow, Run-toward, and Engage, a four-step method that encourages you to to move toward your anxiety with curiosity and acceptance rather than resistance or suppression. The core philosophy of DARE is what I teach to all my anxious clients. Avoiding or fighting anxiety only provides temporary relief, while moving towards it actually diminishes its power and creates lasting, long-term change. The DARE approach draws from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
Why I Recommend It
The DARE app addresses several specific anxiety situations including driving, flying, health anxiety, intrusive thoughts, public speaking, and doctors visits, making it particularly useful for situational and anticipatory anxiety. The SOS section provides immediate audio support when anxiety spikes, and the Daily DARE feature helps gradually retrain your brain’s response to anxious feelings over time.
Best For
- Situational anxiety
- Panic attacks
- Health anxiety
- Anyone who resonates with an acceptance-based approach
Cost
Free with in-app purchases
3. How We Feel
How We Feel is a completely free, beautifully designed app created to help you track your emotions, spot patterns, and develop more compassionate ways of responding to yourself. It was created by the co-founder of Pinterest, which likely explains why the interface is so visually pleasing to use. The app is part of a larger initiative called the How We Feel Project, a scientific nonprofit bringing together scientists, designers, engineers, and therapists to help people better understand and regulate their emotions.
Why I Recommend It
I love the way How We Feel helps people develop and deepen their emotional vocabulary. Anxiety is often the external, tip of the iceberg symptom for more deeply rooted feelings. Understanding your emotions is an important way to begin building awareness around your internal experience and get to the root of your anxiety or other mental health challenges.
A therapeutic superpower is being able to assign specificity to how we feel, moving beyond “scared” or “sad” to something more precise. When we can accurately name what we’re experiencing, we can respond to ourselves with more care and intention, leading to improved self-regulation.
Best For
- Emotion tracking
- Building self-awareness
- Developing self-compassion
- Helpful as a complement to therapy, bringing your emotion log to sessions can give you rich material to work with.
Cost
Completely free
4. Insight Timer
Insight Timer is far more than a meditation app. It contains thousands of music tracks, ambient sounds, and guided meditations led by clinical therapists, spiritual leaders, and meditation specialists. The app covers topics including anxiety and stress reduction, improving sleep, self-compassion, focus and concentration, building better relationships, and supporting addiction recovery.
Why I Recommend It
Mindfulness and meditation are powerful skills to develop to combat anxiety and panic. The breadth and quality of content on Insight Timer is unmatched for a free app. Furthermore the support Insight Timer offers around sleep is essential, as that is often an area of difficulty for clients suffering from anxiety, and yet sleep is so important to our mental health and self-regulation. I particularly love that it includes clinical therapists as contributors, meaning the content is often grounded in evidence-based approaches.
Best For
- General anxiety management
- Sleep and insomnia support
- Building a meditation or mindfulness practice
- Exploring self-compassion practices between therapy sessions
Cost
Free with an optional subscription that unlocks offline listening, downloadable content, advanced playback, and higher-quality audio.
Apps Are Tools, Not Replacements for Therapy
Mental health apps for anxiety are meant to be additions to your toolkit, providing supplemental support between therapy sessions and during triggering situations. They work best as a complement to professional support.
If your anxiety is significantly impacting your daily life, relationships, or work, or if you’re experiencing panic attacks regularly, working with a therapist who understands anxiety at a deeper level can help you get to the roots of what’s driving it rather than just managing the symptoms.
If you’re in Nashville or anywhere across Tennessee and you’re ready to explore what anxiety therapy could look like for you, I’d love to connect.
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation →
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Copyright Julia Langner, 2026 | Photos on this website are courtesy of Faith Benson Photography, Shawna Neel, Marissa Volgelsang, and Julia’s iPhone