Survivor's iPhone Essentials, Part I

The iPhone is unquestionably the greatest advance in technology I have ever experienced. Yes, I had an Apple in the 80s which defined the personal computer. I worked on mainframe supercomputers with their ability to compute real-time graphics, pretty much all of which you can now do on a capable laptop. I suffered through dialup from home at a time when the pipe dream was that eventually we could stream movies into our bedrooms, which has now happened.

The iPhone (and indeed iPad and to some extent the iPod Touch) are better than all those advances. Maybe that is a little unfair. I mean these new technologies do build on prior technologies. But what you can do with these little "i" devices is just absolutely unparalleled, especially since the technologies are "always on" and "at your fingertips."

I know iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads are expensive, but they can be invaluable tools for the child abuse survivor. Since I have had my iPhone for the past year and a half, I have turned it into quite the tool for healing. I have downloaded (and paid for) hundreds of Apps. Most of them were horrible. So, I am hoping that my experience can help others in selecting the really good ones.

Here's a list of 10 Apps, plus a few more, that every survivor's iPhone (or iPod Touch) should have on it. Of course, it is nice to have an iPhone because of the constant network access even away from a wireless router. I find this a necessity for me. But it may not be for you. My kids and wife, for example, are plenty happy with their iPod Touches.

1. iPills. Everyone who uses medications on an as needed basis should have a medication logging App. While there are many out there, I have found iPills to be the best for me because it sports the least onerous entry system. I do not use it to log standing medications. As long as you are taking standing medications every day, I find that the time it takes to enter them kind of defeats the purpose of the software. You enter medications in the "My Pills" tab and can change the shape, size and color of the pill. I usually put the strength in the name, like "Klonopin .5mg". And, since I am only tracking PRN usage, I enter "As Needed" for dosing interval and "Any Time" for time of day. What's good about this App, is that it tracks the time taken, but you can still go back and enter data from a previous day if you forgot. Here's how I use this App: At the end of every month, I have the App email me the 30 day history and I log in table format usage of medications. This helps me to keep within usage goals and track trends for things like benzodiazepines and pain medicines.

2. Lifelog. It takes a little while to figure out how to use this App. It is nothing more than a tracking program. It allows you to build custom log "cards" (like diary cards) to track symptoms, feelings, pain, or anything you can rate on a numeric scale. It also does data analysis by showing correlations between variables and displays output numerically or in charts and graphs. I use it in two ways. For one, I use it as a customized "mood and safety monitor." In this card, I use it to track, on a scale of 1-10, acceptance, happiness, anger, fear/anxiety, fatigue, physical pain, dissociation level, and overall safety rating. On another card, I use it as a twice daily check-in with parts, having all the parts listed by name and I go down the list and mindfully check in, selecting all 1s as I go down the list.

3. IM+. I find texting on an iPhone to be absolutely painful. If you have a PC or laptop in front of you, you are much better off choosing one of those. But it is good for quick contact with others, and on the iPad it is actually quite good. IM+ is a do all messaging App that allows access to all the major messaging services like Yahoo! and AOL. This App stands out from some others because it is a universal App (meaning it also works on the iPad). There are other notable messengers. WhatsApp allows messaging between "i" devices only (like iPhone to iPhone or iPod Touch, etc.) through the use of unique identifiers coded to the phone. Also, the built-in iPhone MMS Messaging, which makes use of your cell carrier's messaging services is also a good choice (and probably the most reliable).

4. iPod, Mail, and Safari. Well, let's face it, the iPod revolutionized music delivery when launched in late 2001. It is quite nice to have all your music on your phone. But, I will admit that I prefer a dedicated hardware iPod. Call me old fashioned. Either way, you need music to be accessible. It is one of nature's best medicines. Mail and Safari are also equally dispensable. Technically, while these are all Apps, they are built into the iPhone and iPod Touch. So, I almost did not include it for that reason.

5. WebMD and Epocrates. Do you want to read all the patient information on a particular medication? No problem. WebMD has every possible medication it its database. You can find what the medication is for, what are the possible side effects, and view pill pictures. You can also look up information on diseases and common medication conditions. Equally indispensable is Epocrates (or Medscape). One of them should exist right alongside WebMD. They both contain prescribing information geared towards medical professionals. They also allow you to browse drugs by class, which is particularly helpful.

6. iSSH. I questioned whether to put this on here, because it requires a good deal of technical effort and I may use it in a way that is not common to others. I will probably expand on this as a technical "how to" in a future post. I use iSSH exclusively to enter posts into my private electronic journal. This App is a front end, it allows me to log into one of my computer servers and run a script that does the data entry. The key here is the script. Without the script, the App is pretty much useless. There is one major requirement: you need to have a computer server which you can log into via the ssh protocol. In my follow up post, I will make the case for why you should have your own server and tell you how to do it. Another, similar, App is FTPOnTheGo. It allows me to send images and other data from my iPhone to directories in my private journal. So, for example, I use it to send audio recordings, paintings, etc.

7. Sketchbook Mobile. This is probably the most full-featured drawing App and it is universal. It allows for the creation of up to six layers. It has a huge 1024x682 pixel canvas size. You can save images to the built-in gallery, and export them to your iPhone Photos gallery or email them. I export to the iPhone gallery then use FTPOnTheGo to upload it to my private journal. Then I use another script in iSSH which includes the image in the journal and allows me to enter some descriptive text. Another notable App is Brushes, but I find it a bit more cumbersome to use. In Part II, I will look at additional drawing Apps.

8. Peggle. This is perhaps the most grounding game ever (see image above). When one dissociates wildly, being able to ground is a must. This is where iPhone and iPod Touch games come in very handy. Peggle is the first game I used for this purpose, and is still one of the main ones I goto in a tough situation. The object of the game is simple. You have a ball shooter at the top and the object of the game is to clear all the orange pegs with the 10 balls you have. Simple. Addictive. Grounding. Pop Cap Games, Inc. also has other very worthy games. Perhaps one of the best is Bookworm, which is a scrabble type game. Part II will look at additional games.

9. Ambiance. Do you remember those sound effects records from long ago? Well, Ambiance is a bit of that, but totally awesome! Ambiance connects to a sound repository and allows you to download sound clips and import them into the App. Rain, birds, forests, rushing rivers, you name it, Ambiance has it, and they add more free sounds every week. What makes this App truly wonderful is that you can create your own custom mixes of several sounds and make your very own relaxation sound machine.

10. Joy of Being. This App is "da bomb." There are three beautifully scripted guided meditations, titled River, Forest, and Beach. They are each about 10 minutes long and are focused on positive and healthy grounding which help you to connect with nature and inside. I have talked to the author of this App and I have been told they have scripted additional meditations and are soon going to record them.

I hope you enjoyed this list. I will post Part II by early next week.