New app aims to ease trauma after intensive care

NCT ID NCT05849454

Completed Symptom relief Sponsor: Columbia University Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 26, 2026 · Updated 2 times

Summary

This study tested whether a mobile app called Messy Memories could help people who had been in the intensive care unit (ICU) deal with distressing memories. The app guides users to record and process a difficult memory on their own. Researchers wanted to see if people would actually use the app and find it acceptable. The study included 29 adults who had been in the ICU at least a month earlier and had some distress. Participants used the app for 6 weeks and filled out questionnaires over 12 weeks.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only — not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance: mobile application (Messy Memories) for self-administered exposure therapy
What this could lead to: If successful, this app could offer an affordable, accessible way for ICU survivors to reduce psychological distress on their own.
What could go wrong: This was a very small, early feasibility study with only 29 participants. It was not designed to prove the app reduces distress, only that people might use it. Results may not apply to everyone.

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

Critical Illness Health Behavior injury post-traumatic stress disorder psychiatric disorder

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

CRITICAL ILLNESS HEALTH BEHAVIOR PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS

Contacts and locations

Locations

Columbia University Irving Medical Center

New York, New York, 10032, United States

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