High-tech happy help

Waking up is actually Preet Anand's favorite part of the day! He's greeted with a soft, pleasant chime right on his phone -- but that's not all.

"When I finally go and turn it off it gives me just a really inspiring quote that is kinda a great way to start my day," he said.

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Anand says apps like Rise help him get in the right frame of mind for his job as an emergency response specialist: A profession he says is super stressful.

"My mornings would be sadder if I didn't have this app," he added.

App designers tell us the demand for "happy apps" is growing. There's Happstr, which allows users to press a button whenever they are in a place that makes them happy and then it builds a "happiness map" of sorts.  

Success Wizard creates self improvement plans to help users regain their passion and purpose.   

Happify gives you tasks to perform each day to help get to your happy place…and claims to be based on the science of positive psychology.  

The iMood journal allows users to rate their moods and track them over time.       

"These apps exist because you have more people that are seeking happiness that are finding some way some tool some technique to get themselves to a happier place," said Neal Smith, co-creator of the Moodpik App.

While making you smile is the simple goal of most, some apps do claim to help with depression, something clinical psychologist Dr. Nekeshia Hammond is leery about. 

"It's not meant to be a cure for any mood disorder but more of a pick-me-up, more of an inspiration- just working on yourself. And think of it as- like a self-help book," she said.

Hammond stresses, these apps should never be a replacement for counseling. 

"If you've been recommended for medication or for therapy or something of that nature it's not really a substitute to use an app instead but more of a supplement. More of a tool in your toolbox," she explained.

The Moodpik social sharing app allows you to track your mood by color and then share it with friends and loved ones.  Smith says he worked with psychologists to design it.

"Our particular app is looking to align ourselves with you know the doctors and the psychiatrists to be a tool for them to you know monitor their clients," he said.

Hammond says these apps can be a good way to learn about yourself.

"For some people they're not really sure like, 'Why is my mood fluctuating so much?'And then you get to kind of see over a week. And observe what is it that sort of triggered that mood for you," she explained.

Anand says the high-tech happy help definitely improves his mood and he's excited to see what ne apps are on the horizon.

"I love the pick me up, I think we can always use little things that bring us smiles in our day," he said.

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