The Atlantic recently reported that Noom, the weight-loss app, now asks users to look at paintings. Its “Mindful Art Break” features works such as Monet’s Woman with a Parasol, alongside breath work and lessons in cognitive-behavioral techniques. Noom launched a stand-alone emotional-health program in 2023, the same year it added GLP-1 medications, and later folded core tools from it into its main app. Dieting apps are not alone. Bumble, the dating app, has added badges for therapy and mindfulness. Why now? UCLA researcher A. Janet Tomiyama told the Atlantic that mental well-being “is a huge trend right now, and I could see how it would be good business to capitalize on it.” She also pointed to a 2010 study she co-authored, in which the stress hormone cortisol spiked when women were randomly assigned to start a diet. Attitudes point the...

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