Self-monitoring tools are becoming a part of our daily lives. The ones we’ve used for COVID-19 symptoms prompt us to consider our physical health, but the less familiar territory of mental health tools helps people tune into and track their moods, behaviors and other symptoms. These include pen-and-paper tools, from journaling about what you did and how you felt that day, to coloring in hand-drawn charts. They also include smartphone apps and other digital tools where you can input observations about your mental health, such as rating your mood on a scale of one to 10.
“What self-monitoring really is, in the end, is the ability for us to think about our mental health and where we are in a moment,” says Lisa Razzano, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago and the vice president of research at the mental health service provider Thresholds. “What are the circumstances when I feel well and what are the circumstances when I don’t?”
