PTSD Pal

PTSDPal gives you the support you need to make it possible to get out in public again. PTSDPal is with you, wherever and whenever you go.

PTSDPal works by responding to variations in your heart rate through the pulse in your wrist, and offers you an immediate guided, calming interruption to a triggered episode like a flashback.

PTSDPal is a smart watch app that empowers you to become more aware of, and effectively manage, the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and bring you to a calm state using knowledge-based cognitive grounding techniques. By self-grounding, which is engaging your senses of sound and sight, you are distracted from what emotions are being triggered and can refocus on what is happening in the present moment. This helps you regulate your distress.
PTSDPal should be considered an integral part of your bigger treatment plan. PTSDPal is not designed as a stand-alone treatment, it supports your professional medical treatment. The app is used as a tool to help train your brain to recognise a trigger as opposed to an actual danger.
NOTE: PTSDPal is an app that helps people manage the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD is a serious mental health condition that often requires professional evaluation and treatment. PTSDPal is not intended to replace professional care.
Detection
In the first 60 seconds of the app starting, the algorithm monitors your heart rate and creates a personalised baseline heart rate measure. This baseline is recalibrated every three minutes to maximize accuracy.
This baseline heart rate is used to determine when you have been triggered.
Self-grounding
When you’re triggered PTSDPal shows you five random images, which you should try and find in your surroundings. Simply swipe right if you see the actual object and left if you don’t.
Then another five random images are shown, but this time you focus on the sound that the object makes. If you can hear the sound in your immediate environment swipe right and left if you don’t.
This is the same technique used by psychologists on a daily basis as a treatment of acute triggers and episodes.
Support
Help is always close at hand as you can preload phone numbers such as Beyond Blue and Lifeline into the app, to be easily accessed by your watch. You can also load in your own support contacts.
Report
PTSDPal tracks and records how many times you are triggered and when. By looking at the patterns documented in your data records, you can determine your triggers and work with your health professional to create an effective treatment plan going forward.
The data is stored on an Excel spreadsheet that can be sent either directly from the watch or phone app to an email specified by the user.
The data only states the date and time of each episode. The app does not link your data to a name or identity. The data is kept on the individual’s device and is not uploaded to any server, this ensures the data is never misused or sold on to a third party.

PTSD Pal uses HealthKit integration