The number of people seeking mental health care is growing and so are wait times for appointments with therapists and psychiatrists. That observation comes from University of Michigan researchers in the journal JAMA Network Open. The study offers hope that while they wait to get care, patients could get some relief from depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide by using evidence-based smartphone apps and wearable devices to track sleep and activity. Of several thousand participants in the study, nearly all completed mental health assessments before and after six weeks of using the app they had been given. Symptoms decreased measurably while the patients waited for their initial visit with a mental health provider.