Quarter of UK office workers have COVID-19 Related Mental Health Problems

Research from LinkedIn and The Mental Health Foundation has found that almost a quarter (24%) of office workers in the UK have seen their mental health suffer as a result of the current pandemic while almost a third (30%) have experienced anxiety and 31% have had trouble sleeping[i]. An NHS approved app, MyCognition, created by one of the UK’s most experienced, neuroscience-medical product developers has been helping thousands of people across the UK as they struggle in these tough times. It has seen a 48% surge in uptake as a result of doctors prescribing it and users accessing the NHS Good Thinking web portal.

MyCognition is the only cognitive training platform that assesses and strengthens mental resilience, is NHS approved, clinically validated, regulated by MHRA as a CE marked Class 1A medical device and has an ORCHA ranking of 85%.

Neuroscientist and Founder of MyCognition, Keiron Sparrowhawk says: “We came up with the idea for MyCognition to help employers support their staff and prevent and manage mental health problems. However, COVID-19 has forced on all of us a whole wave of challenges. Using the benefits of technology, we can help people back to the place where they thrive.“

Through its game ‘AquaSnap’ MyCognition creates a personalised active training meditation that, when used for just 15 minutes per day for one to three months, optimises your cognitive health, mental wellbeing and your resilience to stress, protecting you from mental illness. MyCognition allows a user’s cognition and mental health to be monitored remotely (and confidentially) by their health practitioner. As the first line of intervention in stepped care, it is proving critical in the fight to maintain mental health.

Dr Richard Graham, Consultant Psychiatrist and Clinical Director at Good Thinking, the London Digital Mental Well-being Service which promotes the app to its users, has seen a 1000% rise in hits to its website compared with this time last year as a result of lockdown. He explained: “We have seen a sharp increase in the number of people accessing our website in the middle of the night – times when traditional psychological face-to-face support would be totally unavailable, meaning there is a real need for digital support. There is so much uncertainty during the pandemic and people will undoubtedly be feeling more alone, insecure, anxious and struggling to sleep.

“MyCognition combats the usual problems associated with accessing mental health support – whether that’s the stigma an individual might feel, geographical issues and funding. By using the app on their phone, they experience no judgement, can access it 24 hours a day, wherever they are and it’s free for people in London via Good Thinking.”

A report for the Gates Foundation stated: “The rigor of MyCognition’s combined approach is a true differentiator in the field. While we’ve seen a few other products that try to do both [assess and train cognition], MyCognition is the most comprehensive.” The Gates Foundation’s own report listed MyCognition in first place of only three companies achieving the necessary level of clinical validation and regulatory approval, worldwide.

There are three MyCognition product apps, clinically proven to build mental resilience, to improve performance and reduce the impact of poor mental health.

• MyCognition PRO – a cognitive fitness programme for employers, mental wellbeing coaches and healthcare professionals to increase the cognitive abilities of people of any age, with a proven and direct impact on mental resilience, overall health and wellbeing, and performance. MyCognition PRO provides the evaluation, insight and training required to perform at your best, both mentally and physically. In just 15 minutes per day, MyCognition PRO helps to reduce stress, sharpen focus and improve decision-making ability.

• MyCognition ED – a cognitive fitness app for schools, designed to improve a student’s mental health and capacity to learn through a personalised cognitive fitness assessment and training game. MyCognition ED provides students with a personal report of their cognitive strengths and areas for improvement. Adopted in over 50 schools, MyCognition ED has helped thousands of students train their cognitive fitness. With 50% of mental illness emerging by 14 years of age, and 75% by the age of 25, there is a significant need to prevent poor mental health while our children are being educated.

• MyCognition HOME – described as “a personal trainer for your brain”, is a self-administered app that helps improve mental resilience, self-management, learning outcomes and performance in everyday life, providing support to you and a loved one; either a child, a partner or an elderly relative. In just 15 minutes a day, MyCognition HOME provides the evaluation, insight and training required to help you perform at your best, both mentally and physically. £8.99 monthly, £79.99 annually.

MyCognition apps are available to download from the app stores on any iOS and Android device. HOME is available via subscription; PRO and ED require a pre-paid license. For more information contact martina@mycognition.com or visit http://www.mycognition.com/