SINGAPORE – A new app that allows people facing mental health issues to support one another has been gaining popularity since its launch a week ago.

Known as Huddleverse, the app acts like a social media feed, allowing users to make posts about their feelings and experiences.

Others can reply to them with messages of encouragement, whether it be through text or voice messages, and images and stickers can also be attached.

All of this is done anonymously, with users needing only to key in a screen name and select an avatar from four designs to represent themselves. Registration is done through e-mail, but this information is not shared with others.

During its launch on May 23, personalities such as Olympic champion Joseph Schooling, Asian Games jiu-jitsu silver medallist Constance Lien and influencer Hannah Alkaff were featured in a video that called for people to lend a listening ear, reminding them that they are not alone.

The swim star has had to deal with public scrutiny, as well as criticism levelled at him for his performances at various competitions. Meanwhile, Lien has been candid about her struggles with anxiety, depression and an eating disorder.

Since then, the app has been downloaded about 5,000 times and reached the top 18 of the Apple App Store. At present, it is available only on this app store.

For one of the app’s earliest adopters, it was the premise of an anonymous safe space that appealed to her.

“I think people are afraid of being vulnerable about their problems because they don’t want to be seen as different, but an anonymous space makes them comfortable enough to do so,” said the user, who wanted to be known only as Ms Catharina.

Users are also not pressured to talk to others, and can simply pour their feelings out on their own feeds, added the 31-year-old, who said she enjoys how people leave advice on her posts whenever she has questions. When asked if users try to diagnose one another, she said the community operates on strict boundaries, as many lack professional experience.

“Instead of telling people what they may have, we try to give tips and advice that helped us cope with our own problems, in the hopes that those might help them,” she added. “If there are any hints of self-harm, however, that’s when we will advise them to seek out professional help.”

For another user who wanted to be known only as Mr Kiso, the app acted as a supplement to professional treatment.

The 18-year-old said: “For most people, it’s a lot easier to get help from people on a less professional standing. When you need to go for therapy or see your psychiatrist, that’s on an appointment basis. 

“But a lot of people don’t struggle on a schedule like that. They need help when they need it, and I think this platform provides that support.”

The timeliness aspect is something that Mr Edgar Tham, chief sport and performance psychologist at SportPsych Consulting, believes to be particularly useful, seeing as people may need to get things off their chest immediately when they face stressful situations. Although he views the app as a good complement to seeking professional help for mental health, he said that users need to recognise its limitations.

“For venting and sharing your struggles, I think the app is a good thing. But users should bear in mind that the suggestions and advice given may not work for them, because everybody’s situation is different,” he said. “It just shouldn’t be seen as the final destination for all your psychological needs.”

If anyone finds themselves the target of abuse, they can flag the offensive remarks and a moderator will step in.

The app’s founder, Mr Viaano Spruyt, 26, said he wanted the app to provide peer support to individuals who find themselves unprepared to seek professional help when it comes to mental health.

The Singaporean, who sits on the National Youth Council, had first established it as a Web forum in 2017, when it was known as Huddlehumans.

This later migrated to Telegram in 2019, before it was expanded to include a Discord server in 2021, which would see more than 41,000 people join in two years.

Although the Discord server has worked well, Mr Spruyt said he hoped to cultivate a separate space that was wholly dedicated to the social aspect of mental health.

“We recognised there is a significant gap in the existing landscape of mental health support and wanted to commit ourselves entirely to addressing it through our app for a more holistic approach,” he said, adding that plans are in place to introduce an Android version in due time.