How Mello
came to be.
BLOG ● DEEP DIVE ● 4 MINS
The Mello Team
TLDR:
Explore the youth mental health crisis, why “stuck thinking” is often overlooked, and how the mental health app, Mello was designed and tested to fill that gap with free, evidence-based support.
OVERVIEW
Updated June 12, 2026
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 stuck thinking.
Stuck thinking is the cycle of worry, overthinking and rumination that can leave you feeling trapped in your own thoughts. Mello can help you recognise stuck thinking patterns and build skills to work through them.
Mello was created after our psychologists and researchers noticed a recurring problem: young people were getting stuck in negative thought spirals and needed 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.
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.
Built for the moments you get stuck
Stuck thinking can show up anywhere – whether you’re lying awake replaying a conversation, overthinking a decision, or worrying about what’s next.
Mello gives you access to practical tools you can use in these moments to recognise unhelpful thinking patterns and work through them.
Our goal is to equip young people with reliable, long-term strategies over quick fixes. Mello is here and ready to help you whenever or wherever you 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.
Orygen Digital’s 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.
Research shows that stuck thinking can be hard to break free from. That’s why Mello focuses on recognising thinking patterns, building practical skills and habits that young people can use in the moment and overtime.
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
Young people have been involved at every stage of Mello’s development.
From co-design workshops through to testing and evaluation, young people helped shape Mello’s content, features and overall experience to ensure it feels relevant and useful in everyday life.
Mello was tested with young people as part of a six-week randomised control trial conducted by Orygen Digital and the University of Melbourne.
83% of participants saw a reduction in stuck thinking with 8/10 reporting feeling more confident in handling their thoughts. Participants also reporting lower work levels after just six weeks of using Mello with no other interventions.*
By combining research, lived experience and ongoing feedback from young people, Mello continues to evolve to meet the needs of the young people it was designed for.
And because we know cost is a barrier to accessing support for many young people, Mello is completely free to download from both the Apple App Store and Google Play.
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
*based on six-week pilot study. Results may vary and not be the same for everyone.
OVERVIEW
Written August 19, 2025
WRITTEN BY
The Mello Team
Unwind your mind
today with Mello.
