Is Unstuck free?
Yes. Free on the App Store.
Reviewed by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA, FAPA. Board-certified psychiatrist. Founder of shrinkMD. Medical editor of AnxietyResource.org and DepressionResource.org. Last reviewed: 2026-05-17.
Most wellness apps are optimized to bring you back. Unstuck is the opposite. The point is to open it, use it for a minute, and close it without thinking about it again.
Unstuck is a private iPhone app for journaling, reminders, daily check-ins, routines, and small reset tools. It is for the small mental hours that pile up between bigger problems. The 2 a.m. loop you cannot quiet. A task that has been on your list for three weeks. Or the fifth scroll past a headline that made you tense. Not every difficult moment is a crisis. Most of them are not crises. They are just heavy. Unstuck is a place to put one of them down for a minute.
Who built Unstuck.
Unstuck comes from the shrinkMD team. It was built by Shariq Refai. Shariq is a board-certified psychiatrist based in Jacksonville, the founder of shrinkMD, and the medical editor for AnxietyResource.org and DepressionResource.org. He is the author of three forthcoming books on overthinking, anxiety, and the loud thoughts that show up at the wrong time.
His clinical training: MD from St. George's University School of Medicine, psychiatry residency at the University of Hawaii and John Peter Smith Hospital, dual board certification in psychiatry and sports/performance psychiatry, additional certificates in Electroconvulsive Therapy and Obesity Medicine from Columbia. His MBA is from Duke. Before medical school he worked nights as a psychiatric technician while attending the University of North Florida.
He built Unstuck after years of watching patients describe a gap. Therapy and medication are the right answer for people who need them, and they remain the right answer. But most of life happens between appointments, and most of what people carry is small enough that it does not warrant clinical care and large enough that it does not handle itself. The market answer to that gap has mostly been wellness apps that prey on the same problem they claim to solve: streaks, performance pressure, push notifications that pull you back in, and subscription paywalls that turn reflection into a chore. He wanted a quieter option.
How Unstuck and shrinkMD are different.
Unstuck and shrinkMD share a founder. They are separate companies and serve different needs.
- shrinkMD is clinical care. Licensed psychiatrists. Diagnosis, evaluation, and medication management for adults across supported states. If what you need is a clinician, not an app, that is what shrinkMD is for.
- Unstuck is a wellness app. No clinicians on the other side. No diagnosis. No treatment. No monitoring. Just a private place on your phone for journaling, reminders, and small resets.
Using Unstuck does not create a doctor-patient, therapist-client, or any other clinical relationship with Shariq Refai, MD, shrinkMD, or anyone associated with Unstuck.
What we believe.
Less pressure helps. People who carry a lot already do not need an app that adds to the pile. Streaks, scores, and badges are pressure dressed as motivation. Leaderboards are the loudest version of the same thing. Unstuck does not have any of them.
Private should mean private. Journal entries, check-ins, reminders, and routines stay on your device unless you export them. There is no account, no public profile, no cloud sync, no behavioral tracking, and no AI reading what you wrote.
Small and useful. Most wellness apps grow features until they collapse under their own weight. Unstuck stays small on purpose. The bar for any new feature is "would Shariq recommend this to a real person in a real situation?"
Who Unstuck is for.
Unstuck is for people who overthink, people whose minds get loud at bedtime, and anyone with a list of small things they keep meaning to do. It is also for people who want a journal that nobody else can read and a wellness app that does not turn their inner life into a dashboard.
Unstuck offers small, self-guided ways to steady a difficult moment. For the reference explainer on emotional regulation, see Shrinkopedia. This is background information, not care or a recommendation.
Who Unstuck is not for.
Unstuck is not for people in crisis, people who need a diagnosis, or anyone who needs medication management or therapy. If that is what you need, please reach out to a licensed clinician. Some starting points: your primary care doctor, a licensed therapist (Psychology Today's directory is a common search starting place), a psychiatric practice, or shrinkMD if you are in a state shrinkMD supports.
If you are thinking about suicide or hurting yourself, call or text 988 anytime. Text HOME to 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line. Call 911 if you are in immediate danger.
Where Unstuck is made.
Unstuck is made in Florida by a small team. The mailing address is on the Accessibility Statement and the Contact page. Email reaches a human at support@beunstuck.app.
How we make money.
Right now, we don't. Unstuck is free on the App Store. No ads. No data sale. No behavioral tracking. If a paid tier ever ships, it will be a one-time purchase or an honest subscription, the value will be clear, and the free version will stay useful. You will hear about it here first.
Quick answers
Does Unstuck need an account?
No.
Is my journal in the cloud?
No. Local storage on your device. Export whenever you want.
Is Unstuck on Android?
Not yet. iPhone first. Android is planned.
Is Unstuck therapy or medical care?
No. It is a self-guided wellness app. If you need clinical care, please see a licensed clinician.
Is Unstuck part of shrinkMD?
No. Same founder, separate companies. Unstuck is a wellness app, not a clinical service of shrinkMD.
Who reviews the content on this site?
Shariq Refai, MD, MBA, FAPA reviews all editorial content on the Unstuck Journal for clinical accuracy. See the editorial policy.