Review: Joyable app helps ease social anxiety at work

Social anxiety sufferers, whose careers may be affected by their condition, can now turn to an online platform for help. But the remote, digital alternative to traditional therapy has its shortcomings.

Joyable is a digital alternative to expensive therapy.

Social anxiety can be a barrier in any career, particularly those that require networking, meetings, presentations or interaction with clients.

But the online platform Joy­able aims to knock that barrier down, guiding users towards solutions for their particular area of social anxiety, and pairing them with a coach to help them through the process.

The online component takes the form of quizzes and multiple choice questions, a process of three stages. First, you learn how social anxiety manifests itself and how cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) aims to address it. Then you figure out what types of anxious thoughts you have, and how to recognise and avert them.

The last part challenges you to change behaviour, by setting you real-world activities that allow you to face your fears.

You can choose the gender of the coach you’re paired with and you’re entitled to a half-hour introductory phone call with them to discuss the programme and your own problem areas. You can also follow up with further emails, texts and scheduled calls – although for those who hate phone talk with strangers, the calls are optional.

Joyable is a good idea, particularly in this tech-obsessed, fast-paced world where people have little time to book and drive to an appointment with a therapist. And as the stigma of mental health is broken down, it makes sense to have a remote, digital alternative to expensive talking therapies. And the fact that you can actually talk to someone gives it an edge over other purely online services.

There are two problems though. The first is that the online interaction can feel tediously slow, at least for those who come to it with a basic understanding of CBT already. You have to click through each new question and idea, and you can’t skip ahead. Secondly, while it is cheaper and more convenient than face-to-face talking therapies, at US$25 a week, with a recommended completion time of 12 weeks, it’s still a $300 investment. This may be worthwhile for acute ­social-anxiety sufferers, but those with a milder affliction might be better off simply buying a book on the topic.

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