DEEP DIVE ● 4 MINS
How Mello
came to be.
The Mello Team
TLDR:
Highlight Mello’s roots, from its initial conception in response to the youth mental health crisis to the young people consulted in its creation and now the active app available across Australia.
OVERVIEW
Written August 19, 2025
WRITTEN BY
The Mello Team
It’s not a surprise that young people are facing a mental health crisis.
What is shocking is how inaccessible support is for them.
That’s why we created Mello.
Mello is a FREE mental health app for the 1.8 million young Australians struggling with depression and anxiety.
Mello helps young people manage signs and symptoms of depression and anxiety in real time by targeting what we call “stuck thinking.”. This is the worry, overthinking and rumination that drives depression and anxiety.
Our researchers identified a recurring problem – young people were getting stuck in negative thought spirals. They needed extra help to break out of these spirals when they weren’t in therapy sessions.
While research shows that stuck thinking is one of the leading causes of anxiety, depression and many other mental health conditions, it's often overlooked. Even though symptoms of depression and anxiety are often treated, the root cause is not, leaving young people with ineffective care.
We took this idea and worked with young people through focus groups, clinical trials, consultations and app testing to create the go-to resource for stuck thinking we now call Mello.
Filling the gaps in our mental health system
Featuring psychological treatments like ACT, CBT and DBT in brief interactive exercises, Mello supports you through repetitive negative thoughts.
We do this because we know that two in five young people aged 16-24 will experience a mental health condition that requires care.
And we know that 75% of all mental illnesses emerge by age 25 — making it a crucial window for early intervention.
It's our goal to equip young people with reliable, long-term strategies over quick fixes. Mello is here and ready to help young people whenever or wherever they get stuck.
Backed by science
Mello has been created by Orygen Digital, a division within Orygen, one of the world’s leading centres for digital innovation in youth mental health.
Our work explores how we can use technologies — like smartphone apps, virtual reality, and AI — to deliver mental health care when and where young people need it.
Mello supports young people to manage signs and symptoms in real time by targeting stuck thinking. Unlike most digital tools that focus on surface-level symptoms, Mello goes deeper, addressing the underlying thought patterns that keep young people feeling stuck.
And Mello is there not just once a fortnight in a psychologist’s office, but in the moment — when they’re overwhelmed, alone, or struggling to get through the day.
By young people, for young people
Having young people involved at every stage of the Mello development process has helped us to push boundaries of mental health care and create effective tools specifically for young minds.
We co-designed Mello with young people who had lived experience of mental ill-health and tested it in a pilot randomised controlled trial.
Fifty-five young people took part in this trial — half used Mello for six weeks, the other half didn’t.
Over 80% of those using Mello saw improvements in their depression and anxiety in just six weeks, with no other supports. Just the app.
Compared to the control group, the level of improvement was comparable to what you typically see after six to ten sessions with a psychologist. Now, each of these appointments could cost over $200, making this kind of support out of reach for so many young people.
Through this consultation with young people, we were able to apply their lived experience and our clinical findings to ensure Mello meets their needs for daily life.
And because we know cost is a barrier to accessing support for many young people, Mello is completely free to download on both the Apple and Android app stores.
Get relief from stuck thinking with Mello today.
Mello is funded and backed by Orygen, Australia’s leading not-for-profit youth mental health organisation, and philanthropic funders the Telstra Foundation and William Buckland Foundation. Their commitment to youth mental health makes it possible for young people across Australia to access this support—at no cost
OVERVIEW
Written August 19, 2025
