Limestone And Sharpen Partnering On New Mental Health Mobile App

Limestone College and Sharpen, a mental health content and technology company, are partnering to release the “Sharpen Colleges” mobile and desktop app for free to all college students in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Access to the app content will be free for the next three years.

Limestone Athletics and Sharpen have been working closely together over the past year to bring student-athletes another mental health resource but moved up its timeline due to the challenges presented by COVID-19. In addition to the Game Changer program with the National Center for Performance Health and on-campus resources, this app gives students another avenue to approach mental health wellness.

Sharpen Health collaborates with licensed mental health providers to provide students self-help information, techniques, and guidance in a safe environment with the content offered in the voices and perspectives of students themselves. Students will have access to live support, informational videos, and a closed social network to help get through these uncertain times.

Depression and anxiety affect college students at a higher rate than the general population, and the new quarantine guidelines make their lives even tougher. Students are feeling more mental and emotional stress than they can handle alone as colleges across the nation have shifted to virtual classes.

“This resource further helps to destigmatize misconceptions surrounding mental health and provides our student body with another outlet to seek confidential education and resources when they need it,” said Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Health Adam Ranns. “Sharpen Colleges is meant to complement the resources already available through Game Changer and Limestone’s on-campus counseling services.”

Dr. Rahul Mehra, the CEO and Chief Physician Executive of the National Center for Performance Health and advisor to Sharpen, is relieved that these rich resources will be available to college students to mitigate the long-term mental health risks this crisis could have on our young adults.

“We really don’t think enough about prevention,” he said. “Statistics indicate that for adults who develop major psychiatric issues in their 20s, over 50-percent of the time those patients have started manifesting symptoms during childhood.”

Like Game Changer and Limestone’s on-campus counseling service, this resource will also be available to Limestone staff during this equally stressful time. For more information about accessing this free program, please visit www.SharpenMinds.com to learn more.