Feb 24, 2014 By Nick Farrell for The 4 min read

WAYNESBURG — As a licensed clinical social worker in Waynesburg, Jonathan Johnson knows how anxiety affects people.

Johnson works with people who have enjoyment sapped out of their life nearly every day. Johnson said he, too, fought the same battle against anxiety in his younger years. Now, he’s doing his part to help others conquer anxiety and stress with a smartphone application he developed called Anxiety Resolver.

“I’ve been working in Greene County for 10 years, and, as a result of that, I’ve had that unfortunate opportunity of seeing how anxiety can affect families from generation to generation,” Johnson said. “I wanted to do whatever I could to try to disrupt that cycle.

Johnson, a 1998 graduate of Waynesburg University, released the app in December with the goal of giving a handheld support system that is always available until the user relies on the app less frequently or never at all.

All new Anxiety Resolver users create a profile on the app and take a brief survey to determine how they manifest anxiety. Johnson said a key to combating anxiety is to have an awareness of what anxiety is and how it affects the user. The user can take the test frequently to maintain an awareness of how he or she is progressing.

“Hopefully, your scores begin to improve. So it’s a self-awareness measurement of how you are doing,” Johnson said.

Another key component of the profile, called “Reset Myself,” helps change the user’s negative thinking by making positive comments written by the user and Johnson visible during a stressful time.

Each day, users are asked to measure their anxiety, sleep, exercise and happiness by supplying a score for each category. Those data are logged and can be accessed by the user at any time to see how he or she has progressed and how anxiety scores match up with other category scores on a daily basis or over an extended period.

Users can also journal their feelings if they realize they are in the midst of a particularly positive or negative day. Johnson encourages users to use the function as it has helped him better understand his patients’ tendencies.

“The journal portion allows them to look at a clearer snapshot of what’s really gone on over the last two weeks,” Johnson said.

Johnson said two of his patients have used the app since it was released, and, recently, one man told Johnson his goal had been attained. The patient said the app helped him progress to the point where he needs the relief less frequently, Johnson said.

“Once these skills are put in place, the need for Anxiety Resolver should actually go down,” Johnson said. “If stress goes up, you may have to go back to it, but the feedback so far has been very positive.”

Johnson said younger people, including college students, could benefit from the app because it will help them develop healthy patterns even under stressful conditions.

“So often, people feel alone when they’re stressed, and they feel overwhelmed. I know college is a place ripe for (that),” Johnson said. “You get into college, and you have to figure out how you’re going to manage things, and it can be kind of a lonely place. We know that loneliness can breed the sense of being overwhelmed. The app helps with letting you know you aren’t alone in what you’re experiencing.”

Johnson said he struggled with anxiety through college until he studied psychology and learned ways to manage it. In his professional endeavors, he said he has seen many instances where patients needed medications, but those medications did not always make a substantial difference. Johnson hopes Anxiety Resolver will provide some sustainable reinforcement to those people in the battle against anxiety.

“Between my own working through anxiety and learning how to manage it and then being able to work with people and help them get beyond it to the point where they no longer needed medication had a lot to do with my motivation,” Johnson said.

Currently, the app is available only on the Apple App Store for $2.99. Johnson said he is in the process of making the app available on the android market in order to give more people, no matter their situation, the ability to cope with stress more effectively.

“Sixty percent of people with anxiety don’t even receive help. That’s part of who I’m trying to access,” Johnson said. “For those people who suffer in silence or needlessly, I want to give them an option.”