Postponing worry works
People who worried a lot learned to save their worries for a fixed half hour each day. The time they spent worrying went down.
Borkovec et al., Behaviour Research and Therapy, 1983For adults who worry a lot
Not everything you fear happens.
Unworry is a calm, CBT-informed app for everyday worry. Catch a worry in ten seconds, decide what it needs, and check later whether it actually happened. Over time you build your own proof.
Coming soon to the App Store and Google Play.
Free 7-day trial. No ads. Your worries stay on your phone.
Sound familiar?
Your mind keeps running the worst case
“It’s 2 am and I’m replaying tomorrow’s meeting again.”
“What if the test result is bad? What if they say no?”
“People say it’ll be fine. It helps for an hour, then it starts again.”
Unworry doesn’t tell you it will be fine. It helps you look at the worry, act on what you can, and see for yourself what actually happened.
How it works
One worry at a time, in four small steps
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1Catch it
Write or say the worry in one line and pick a topic. It takes about ten seconds. Note where you feel it in your body and what you fear will happen.
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2Sort it
Can you do something about it now, later, or not at all? Take one small step, save it for your worry time, or work with the thought itself.
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3Check it
On the day you chose, Unworry asks: did what you feared happen? No, partly or yes. And if yes, was it as bad as you expected?
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4See your proof
Your journal shows how many worries didn’t happen, which topics take up the most space, and which tools help you most.
91%
of worries didn’t happen in one study
People who worried a lot wrote down their worries for ten days and checked afterwards what actually happened. 91% didn’t come true. And the more untrue worries they discovered, the less they worried afterwards. Unworry is built around that same check.
LaFreniere & Newman, Behavior Therapy, 2020The research behind it
Every tool has a reason
Unworry draws on cognitive behavioural therapy and published studies. The app has short lessons on each one, with the source on every card.
Putting feelings into words
Naming the emotion in a face lowered activity in the amygdala, the brain’s alarm centre, compared with just looking at it.
Lieberman et al., Psychological Science, 2007Stepping back from the thought
Thinking about an upcoming speech using your own name instead of “I” made people less nervous, and their speeches were rated better.
Kross et al., Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2014Long exhales
Five minutes a day of breathing with long exhales gave the biggest lift in mood over a month in a Stanford study.
Balban et al., Cell Reports Medicine, 2023Nerves as energy
People who learned to see a racing heart as a resource performed better and showed a healthier heart and blood-vessel response.
Jamieson, Nock & Mendes, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2012Getting it out of your head
Students who wrote about difficult experiences for 15 minutes a day, four days in a row, saw the doctor less often in the following months.
Pennebaker & Beall, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1986Honest about the evidence: many studies are small, and the effects are moderate. Unworry is a tool for everyday worry, not treatment.
What’s inside
Calm tools for the worry part of stress
A daily worry time
Pick a time, say 19:30. When a worry shows up during the day, park it in your worry book. At worry time you go through them one by one for 15 minutes: make a plan, let it go, or save it for tomorrow. Then you close the book.
17 short tools
See it from more sides, Zoom out, What can I influence?, Reframe your body, Long exhales and more. Most take one to three minutes. Keep your six favourites on the home screen.
“Did it happen?” checks
Each worry can get a check date. Your answers add up to “Your own proof”: a quiet count of worries that didn’t happen, or weren’t as bad.
Night mode
Between 22:00 and 05:00 you get a dark, quiet screen. Empty your head into a quick note for tomorrow’s worry time. No numbers, charts or streaks at night.
Short lessons
Thirteen cards on the research behind the tools, one to two minutes each, with the source on every page.
SOS for hard moments
When it gets too much, one tap
The red button in the middle of the app asks how much space the worry is taking right now. Then you choose what to work with.
- Body: go for a walk, cold water on your face, tense and release
- Mind: count back in sevens, find five things in one colour, notice three new things
- Breath: long exhales, reframe your body
Afterwards it asks whether it helped, and what works for you moves to the top next time. Helplines are always free.
Private by design
Your worries stay on your phone
What you write in Unworry is yours. We built it so we never see it.
- Worries, journal and exercises are stored on your device, not on our servers.
- No AI reads your text. No ads. We never sell data.
- Basic usage statistics on EU servers, with IP addresses anonymised and never including what you write.
- Delete your account any time from Profile.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Who is Unworry for?
Adults (18+) who worry a lot in everyday life: about health, work, money, family or relationships, often at night. Unworry focuses on the worry part of stress.
Is Unworry therapy?
No. Unworry is a self-help tool built on techniques from cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and research on worry. It does not diagnose and does not replace professional help.
If worry fills most of your day for several weeks, or affects your sleep, work or relationships, talk to your doctor.
What does it cost?
Unworry starts with a free 7-day trial. After that it is a monthly or yearly subscription, billed by the App Store or Google Play. You can cancel any time in your store settings. Helplines in the app are always free.
Will it tell me everything will be fine?
No, on purpose. Reassurance tends to help for a short while and then the worry returns. Unworry asks questions, helps you weigh things up yourself and shows you your own data.
Who can read my worries?
Only you. Your worries, journal and exercises are stored on your phone and are not uploaded or synced. Our analytics never include what you write. There is no AI processing and no ads. Read the privacy policy.
What if I need help right now?
Unworry is not for emergencies. If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, call your local emergency number (112 in the EU, 911 in the US) or a crisis line. The SOS screen in the app links to helplines.
When is Unworry available?
Unworry is coming soon to the App Store (iPhone) and Google Play (Android).
How do I delete my data?
In the app, go to Profile and choose Delete account. You can also write to hi@getunworryapp.com. Deleting the app removes the data stored on your phone.
Start collecting your own proof
Catch your next worry, and see what actually happens. Free for 7 days.
Coming soon to the App Store and Google Play.
Unworry is a self-help tool for everyday worry. It is not medical care and not for emergencies. If you are in crisis, call your local emergency number or a crisis line.