Cope.

I designed Cope. to help people who are going through therapies or mental treatments to quit bad coping mechanisms.

I started going to therapy sessions from January 2015 to get help for my eating disorder, but my emotional eating history started in 2008. This is a bad coping mechanism and does not really solve my problems, yet somehow I have got to the point of deeply identify with it and it becomes addictive. Most therapy and group therapy sessions I went to used the strategy of helping one look at their symptom-use more clearly, by finding out at the core what are the problems or source of anxiety, and what are some of the alternative options to relieve the pain. In most group therapy sessions I went to, when asked to identify the real reason, most patients could realize that what they are coping with by eating was never "physical hunger" but something else.

Bad coping mechanism usually happens when the patient is alone. In those episodes of symptom using, they temporarily choose to ignore all knowledge they have about the damage of their coping habits, and refuse to recall their commitment to stop using them. After the episode, they will be infused with huge shameful feeling or remorse, and that emotional turmoil sometimes would cause a second episode.

This summer, I had to housesit for my aunt in a huge house in Philadelphia suburb for 10 days. It was a very lonely experience, and it nearly killed me. I was using my eating disorder symptoms approximately 5-6 times a day. Every day, I would set a goal for myself, but when I was flooded by emotions and anxieties I usually found a way to negotiate myself out of the commitment. Another friend recommended me to try out some positive thinking apps, like Thought Diary and Rise Up. I found them helpful, and was inspired in the first time that mobile phone apps could fulfill the function of mind changing and being the eye-witness of what the patient was going through, and provide empathy and care.

Upon entering the interface, the users will go through a series of screens of encouraging words and come to a state -- maybe not for the first time in their life -- of agreeing on paying efforts to change their bad coping habits. Cope. then asks the user to commit to that decision and document the moment by asking the user to take a selfie of his or her smile. Cope. also asks the user to think about their relationship with their symptoms and alternative options that will make them happy. Twice a day, Cope. will send out push notification with the words and picture from the user him/herself to motivate the user to keep on the right track. It reminds them of their own desire to self-care, even when there is no one around.

Cope. also forms a virtual therapy group by asking individual users to write down messages to people who are struggling with the same symptoms as well as receiving messages from others. The sense of community is important in healing and positive. A few friends who tried out this wireframe demonstration thought that the function to enable different users of Cope. to actually message and communicate with each other within this app would be ideal; however, I am still concerned about the danger of this virtual safe space where people expose a lot of vulnerability being potentially abused.

Most people who have tested this prototype reported that they like the function of daily tracking, which is a method often recommended by therapists. One user thought it would be nice if one can review his or her progress in coping and seeing a chart or trend. She also shared that she was currently using an app designed for people who had skinpicking habit and found the interface less user friendly and motivating. I was surprised that habit forming / therapy aid apps had already specialized to this degree. We were then joking that perhaps there should also be apps for beard playing, nails biting and other harmless habits.

I would like to work on this project and make it available for myself and my friends during my grad school study.