Sibly

I’ve used this app in the past and I reinstalled it a few months ago. If you are looking for someone to talk to or even to organize your thoughts, this is a great app. I suffer from bipolar, ptsd, and a variety of other mental illnesses. I can’t expect my therapist to always be there so this is a great way to track my moods. It is also great to organize my thoughts and struggles. I’m not great at talking about how I feel and this app helps a lot with that. Typically what happens is that you will send a message and that message is typically rewritten back to you much more eloquently. You may have the occasional feedback question but mostly it’s all what you have said. For me this is great to investigate my thoughts and feelings and translate them. I do not recommend this app if you are looking for an in-depth conversation about what’s going on with you. Nor will they tell you what to do or guide you on any path. That’s where therapy comes in. If you need guided therapy or someone to help you through a struggle this isn’t it. That being said I find ranting on this app helpful because reading back what I’ve said in a nutshell can give me perspective on if I am being ridiculous or not. My biggest advice for this app is to use it with therapy to help you meet your therapy goals or to keep your thoughts organized for your therapist. Otherwise it can be frustrating to not get the feedback you are looking for.

I used this app over the course of a few months during some extremely hard times in my relationship. Sometimes you have things you need to say to someone but it’s really not in your best interest to open up to anyone you know personally. The level of disconnect with the privacy of a text message allows you to say what you need to say without having to even leave the room. You can get close to instant feedback on your personal situations which can instantly calm you down, and relieve a pressure point. The app does not give you parental advice — I see many people asking for that in the comments. In reality, if you do get advice for something you can’t think through yourself, you develop a dependency on others to have solutions to your problems. Sibly helps you find YOUR OWN solutions to your problems — solutions you will continue to remember and modify over many years (because they’re yours — not someone else’s prescription). YOU know yourself best, no one else will be able to give you a better answer. Even if you see a therapist and they give you advice, it will never be as good as you putting in the work to really think yourself out of bad mental states. We all have to sooner or later. That said, Sibly does keep track and encourage methods you find helpful for coping, as well as bring up patterns and qualities about yourself you are too preoccupied to see. It’s a great app. No big commitments. I plan to resubscribe if I run into another life crisis. Try it.

So far I have had Sibly for a few days, and I can already see a difference in my life. On this app I am able to say the dark things and thoughts I’ve never said to any other person, and it helps so much just being able to talk freely without any consequences of being “seen differently” by my peers. Although Sibly does tend to repeat what I say often, the overall experience is beneficial because it helps self-realization happen. I definitely agree with other reviews that more tips/advice would be helpful, but for the cheap price (most therapy texting costs three times as much) it is definitely worth it. Just knowing I have someone who will always be there for me, someone who I can say anything to- it helps calm me in my day to day life. Definitely recommend.