Review Insights · App Store
Calm Harm - manage self-harm
Stem4 · 682 ratings · ★ 4.4
4.4
★★★★★
682 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 16 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"password"
8 negative reviews mention this · 50% of all complaints
★★★★★ "It’s cool until you forget your password. The only way to get back in is your memorable word...guess it wasn’t that memorable if I forgot it. Not really the best time to be locked out of a app to calm down. :)" - notwirthit747
2
"self"
6 negative reviews mention this · 38% of all complaints
★★★★★ "something’s wrong. a lot of the pages or activities are off-center and only partially on the screen so you can’t see or do them and sometimes can’t even click out of them, which ironically only exacerbates my thoughts of self-harm." - Ethan Allen Hawley
3
"couldn"
5 negative reviews mention this · 31% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Good idea but needs a lot of work. The app has a really good idea behind it but needs a lot of work. I just tested it out to see how things were recorded and couldn’t exactly find a place that allowed you to document when you self harmed, which is a major issue because when …" - Magdalena Ma'am
4
"activities"
4 negative reviews mention this · 25% of all complaints
★★★★★ "something’s wrong. a lot of the pages or activities are off-center and only partially on the screen so you can’t see or do them and sometimes can’t even click out of them, which ironically only exacerbates my thoughts of self-harm." - Ethan Allen Hawley
5
"harm"
4 negative reviews mention this · 25% of all complaints
★★★★★ "something’s wrong. a lot of the pages or activities are off-center and only partially on the screen so you can’t see or do them and sometimes can’t even click out of them, which ironically only exacerbates my thoughts of self-harm." - Ethan Allen Hawley
6
"makes"
4 negative reviews mention this · 25% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Can’t update streak. It won’t let me update my streak. It says I have 0 but I don’t and every time I see it, it makes me feel bad." - 2%percent
7
"word"
4 negative reviews mention this · 25% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Good idea but needs a lot of work. The app has a really good idea behind it but needs a lot of work. I just tested it out to see how things were recorded and couldn’t exactly find a place that allowed you to document when you self harmed, which is a major issue because when …" - Magdalena Ma'am
8
"help"
4 negative reviews mention this · 25% of all complaints
★★★★★ "overall not great. i downloaded this app to help with my self harm urges but eventually gave up on most of the activities. most of these activities are way too complicated and stressful, and the timer just makes things worse. i used the ‘journal’ section to v…" - PuddinTime5000
9
"remember"
4 negative reviews mention this · 25% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The password thing ended up making it worthless to me. Because of my depression I downloaded this app to try and help me through some tough times. And for the most part it’s a very good app. But since my depression also makes it difficult to remember things I ended up being unable to get back i…" - AGirlWhoDoesn'tWantToBeNamed
10
"thoughts"
3 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "something’s wrong. a lot of the pages or activities are off-center and only partially on the screen so you can’t see or do them and sometimes can’t even click out of them, which ironically only exacerbates my thoughts of self-harm." - Ethan Allen Hawley
11
"self harm"
3 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Good idea but needs a lot of work. The app has a really good idea behind it but needs a lot of work. I just tested it out to see how things were recorded and couldn’t exactly find a place that allowed you to document when you self harmed, which is a major issue because when …" - Magdalena Ma'am
12
"things"
3 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Good idea but needs a lot of work. The app has a really good idea behind it but needs a lot of work. I just tested it out to see how things were recorded and couldn’t exactly find a place that allowed you to document when you self harmed, which is a major issue because when …" - Magdalena Ma'am
📋 All 16 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Freezing up
The app is freezing can’t get past the wave pop up
something’s wrong
a lot of the pages or activities are off-center and only partially on the screen so you can’t see or do them and sometimes can’t even click out of them, which ironically only exacerbates my thoughts of self-harm.
lame
this goofy app made me relapse them animals mockin me frl like stupid fat seahorse i cant stand yall frl thats why i use plastic straw curse the sea animals frl 😪❌
It’s cool until you forget your password
The only way to get back in is your memorable word...guess it wasn’t that memorable if I forgot it. Not really the best time to be locked out of a app to calm down. :)
Triggered me
I have an eating disorder. The activity about eating made me extremely upset and caused me to harm more. Also, i struggle a lot with the fact I have very few close friends. The activity that says to hug someone or call a friend made me harm more. The activities that didn’t directly trigger me, bored me a lot. Plus the password is super annoying. Overall, I don’t recommend this app.
overall not great
i downloaded this app to help with my self harm urges but eventually gave up on most of the activities. most of these activities are way too complicated and stressful, and the timer just makes things worse. i used the ‘journal’ section to vent, which kind of helped, but it soft locked somehow and now i can’t read my old entries. this app is not helpful and is really just a glorified version of googling “ways to distract yourself from self harm”
Unnecessary security
Since this app is no more then silly distracting games, most of which are not helpful, I don’t know why I have to enter a password every time I want to open it. When I am feeling like harming myself, I open the app and sometimes have a hard time entering my password. Either because I am shaky or having a panic attack. This makes me frustrated, causes me to bang my wrists or hit my phone. So I deleted it. Caused me too much stress. Increased thoughts of self harming. But I still want to know; Why is this like that?What is the point?
Always asks for password.
I’m in such a bad headspace when I need this app I can’t remember my password. Doesn’t help at all because I can’t actually get to the app in time
STUPID
When you need it most, when you’re having a panic attack, and you go to use the stupid app and it requires a whole login. When you’re mind is going a thousand miles a minute, when you can’t TYPE, and you can’t access the app because you have to put your brain back together enough for a password. Ridiculous.
Password what the heck
I haven’t used the app in a long time and I went back on it to try and use it since Ive had really bad anxiety and depression recently and it asked me for a password and I couldn’t remember it and then it asked for my memorable word and I obviously couldn’t remember that either and I couldn’t do anything about it
Terrible. 0/10
I was excited to find an app that could me “ride the waves” of anxiety and self harm. That was until I was in the midst of a panic attack and couldn’t remember my password or memorable word. They need a better way for people to reset passwords or even access their accounts.
Just seeing “that’s not your memorable word” over and over again just sent me farther into panic. I deleted the app immediately because it’s worthless.
Just seeing “that’s not your memorable word” over and over again just sent me farther into panic. I deleted the app immediately because it’s worthless.
It didn’t help me at all :(
When I downloaded this app, I thought I would be presented with distracting puzzle games to help ride out the urges and then get the occasional update on how far I progressed through the wave. Instead, I got timed mental word problems that added to my stress and self deprecation when I couldn’t bring myself to complete them. I know I’m not everyone and can genuinely recognize how helpful this can be for others, but for me it wasn’t helpful because when I dip that low in my depression all I can manage to do is hole myself up in a bundle of blankets and CAN’T EVEN MOVE let alone write or problem-solve. It’s more helpful for me to go back to my usual puzzle games, except without the positive reinforcement to help combat the self-harming thoughts.
Can’t update streak
It won’t let me update my streak. It says I have 0 but I don’t and every time I see it, it makes me feel bad.
Good idea but needs a lot of work
The app has a really good idea behind it but needs a lot of work. I just tested it out to see how things were recorded and couldn’t exactly find a place that allowed you to document when you self harmed, which is a major issue because when you’re trying to kick a major habit, a slip up should be expected and it’s important to keep them documented. Another issue I have is when you finish an activity and it asks you if the urge has passed. If you press no, it will just make you repeat the activity you just did or pick another one. Instead of immediately going to the next activity , I think it would be beneficial to have a quick check in as well as words of encouragement because many times when someone self harms, their level of loneliness is highly elevated. Some of the activities listed actually made me angry because they appeared to be ideas from someone who has never self harmed.
The password thing ended up making it worthless to me
Because of my depression I downloaded this app to try and help me through some tough times. And for the most part it’s a very good app. But since my depression also makes it difficult to remember things I ended up being unable to get back into the app, and I had to delete it.
C’mon!!
I couldn’t get the app to load, so it did nothing for me.
Sentiment summary
87%
Positive (4-5★)
3%
Neutral (3★)
10%
Negative (1-2★)