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A labeling thoughts tracker for the single word that replaces the whole story

A mistake becomes "I'm an idiot" faster than it becomes a sentence about what actually happened. Mendly marks that swap with one tap — the moment a specific event turns into a global label about who you are. No relabeling exercise required to use it. Hourly patterns later show when the labeling reflex fires most.

The research

David Burns included labeling as a distinct distortion — an extreme form of overgeneralization where a single event or trait gets converted into a fixed, global identity statement ('I'm a loser') rather than described in specific, situational terms ('I made a mistake this time'). Mendly's tap-to-log is built to catch that conversion at the moment it happens, before the label settles in as a description of who you are rather than what you did.

— David Burns, Feeling Good, 1980

Want to understand why this happens? What is catastrophizing — and how to tell when you're doing it

Quiz

What's your labeling pattern?

Question 1 of 4

When does a single event turn into a label?

“A label feels faster than a description because it is faster — one word instead of a full sentence about what happened. The speed is the whole appeal, and also the whole problem: it's a summary that arrives before the facts do.”

Features

One-tap logging

One tap marks the thought — no typing, no prompts. The friction is so low it actually works mid-meeting, mid-walk, mid-spiral.

Milestone badges

16 badges that celebrate your awareness, not your perfection. First Catch, Streaks, Early Bird, Voice Found — each one earned.

Weekly reports

A gentle summary of your week. Not a grade — just a window into your patterns.

Not quite your pattern? A thought loop app for the kind of thinking that knows it's circular and keeps going might fit better

Apps like MindLift ask you to write the specific, situational version of the thought to replace the label as you log it. If you already know how to do that intellectually, the rewriting step is the part you've likely already tried and found doesn't stick in the moment. Mendly just marks that the swap happened.

See the full comparison

Common questions

I already know the difference between a label and a description. What does logging add?
A record of which labels recur and what tends to trigger them. Most people can explain the concept in the abstract but can't say, without a log, whether 'idiot' shows up mostly after work mistakes or mostly in social comparisons — that specificity is what the pattern data adds.
Is this a CBT app?
No. There's no relabeling worksheet or thought record. Mendly logs when the pattern occurs and shows you the timing — a complement to CBT work, not a version of it.
How is this different from the inner critic tracker?
The inner critic tracker covers self-critical thoughts broadly. This page is narrower — specifically the moment a single event gets compressed into a global identity label, rather than self-criticism generally. Many people find both relevant; this one is for the specific word-swap pattern.
What does the free trial include?
The full app, no restrictions, for 7 days. After 7 days you choose monthly ($7.99) or annual ($59.99, about $5/month). Cancel anytime via your Apple subscriptions — no emails required.
A worry tracker that shows you when dread runs on a scheduleA mental filter tracker for the one bad detail that discolors the whole dayWhat is mind reading (the cognitive distortion, not the party trick)?

See for yourself — 7 days free.

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