Blog
AI, privacy, mental health, and the honest reality of building a premium wellness app solo.
How SAM Keeps Your Mental Health Data Safe While Using AI
Mental health data is among the most sensitive data you can share. Here's exactly what SAM does — and doesn't do — to protect it when AI is involved.
What It Actually Takes to Build a $19/Month Android App Solo
The honest account of building a premium wellness app as a single developer — the technical decisions, the quality bar, and what I'd do differently.
What AI Should and Shouldn't Do in Mental Health Apps
I built an AI chat feature into a mental health app. Here's where I think AI genuinely helps, and where it needs hard limits.
The 15-Minute Psychiatrist Problem
Your psychiatrist has 15 minutes. You have weeks of mental health history to convey. Something is going to get lost — unless you bring data.
Why I Don't Gamify Mental Health
No streaks. No badges. No cute pets. Here's why Steadyline doesn't reward you for logging, and why I think that's the right call.
I Built a Mood Tracker Because Nothing Else Took It Seriously
How a rough year and a lot of bad apps led me to build my own mental health tool. This is the honest version.
Most Mental Health Apps Are Built for Good Days
Calm tells you to breathe. Headspace gives you a 10-minute meditation. But what happens when you're at your lowest and the smiley-face mood picker feels like a joke?
Why Mood Alone Isn't Enough
Every mood app asks 'how do you feel?' But if you have a real condition, that question is missing at least three dimensions.
Tracking Gaps Are Data Too
The days you don't log tell a story. Often a more important one than the days you do.
Your Data Knows Before You Do
After months of tracking my mood and sleep, I found patterns I never would have caught through introspection alone. Some of them changed how I manage my condition.
Logging on Your Worst Day Is the Most Important Log
The entries you least want to write are the ones that matter most. Here's why I keep tracking even when everything feels pointless.
Sleep Is the First Domino
I tracked my mood and sleep for over six months. The pattern that emerged was brutal, obvious, and something no doctor had ever explained this clearly.
When Work Becomes a Mental Health Risk
There's a difference between a stressful job and a job that's destabilizing your mental health. I learned to tell them apart the hard way.
Medication Is Not a Fix, It's a Foundation
Finding the right medication combination took me years. Here's what I've learned about what meds can and can't do, and why tracking through changes matters.
The People Around You See It First
Your partner, your friends, your family — they often notice a mood shift before you do. Here's why that's both helpful and really hard to hear.
What 'Stable' Actually Feels Like
After years of bipolar episodes, I finally hit a stretch of real stability. It's not what I expected.
Bipolar Isn't What You Think It Is
It's not mood swings. It's not being happy then sad. Here's what living with bipolar disorder actually looks like from the inside.