Your patient's progress report

You have a PDF export from the depressionapp app or have received a link to it. This page explains what it contains and how you can interpret it.

In brief: The app is a self-help tool for moments of acute distress (panic, anxiety, restlessness, rumination, substance cravings, loneliness, depressive lows). The export is the person's own record. It is not a clinical finding or a diagnosis.

What the app does

In a distressing situation, the person selects what is happening, names a possible trigger, and rates the severity (1 to 10) and the consequences. The app suggests short, tried-and-tested steps, such as breathing exercises, grounding, movement or distraction. For substance cravings, it also provides an overview of the substance's effects. Afterwards, the person rates how helpful the step was, using 1 to 5 stars. If there are signs of suicidal thoughts, the app immediately displays helpline numbers and does not suggest any steps.

What the PDF contains

Section	Content
Overview	Number of episodes in the period, average severity, most common problems, triggers and consequences, distribution by time of day.
What helps	Steps with the highest and lowest ratings (average stars), triggers and what helped in those situations.
Individual episodes	Time, problem, trigger, severity, consequences, location label (for example, “Home”), suggested and rejected steps, chosen step, outcome and stars.
Optional	Brief AI interpretation at the end of an episode. A free-text account, only if the person wishes, automatically anonymised.

How you can interpret the information

• All information is self-reported during the acute situation. It shows patterns, not measurements.
• The severity scale is subjective (1 = barely distressed, 10 = barely bearable). Compare the same person's experiences over time, not different people.
• Stars describe how helpful a step was at that moment. They are a starting point for discussion, such as “What helped during an argument with your family?”.
• Texts labelled “AI” are suggestions from a language model. They have not been reviewed for diagnostic or therapeutic use.
• The note “Support information displayed” means that the app displayed helpline numbers. It does not replace a risk assessment.

Privacy in brief

The person decides whether to share the report and with whom. The report is generated on their device. The data in the app is end-to-end encrypted. The operator cannot read it and does not receive a copy of the report. The PDF export contains health data (Article 9 GDPR). Please store it only where your duty of confidentiality and data protection requirements permit. For more information, see the Privacy Policy.

Limitations

The app does not replace diagnosis, therapy or medical treatment. In acute crises: call the emergency number 112 (free, available 24/7), or find a helpline in your country at findahelpline.com.

Questions and feedback

Please send questions and suggestions from your clinical practice to hello@depressionapp.de.