About
Cogs AI is a neurodiversity-focused mental health and self-care app created by neurodivergent people, for neurodivergent people. Founded in 2021 by CEO Zareen — an autistic individual with a Harvard degree in educational neuroscience — Cogs combines cutting-edge science with community-sourced insights to deliver practical, personalized mental wellness tools. The app begins with an onboarding questionnaire that helps users discover their unique burnout profile. From there, users can track their key burnout signs daily, build tailored self-care routines, and access immediate emotional support tools at any time. Reflections allow users to journal via text, drawing, or voice notes to process emotions and interrupt unhelpful thought patterns. Self-regulation tools include curated music, visual stimming content, breathing exercises, and movement activities to help users focus, energize, or calm themselves. The app also provides affirmations for quick emotional boosts. Cogs is designed to serve anyone on the neurodivergent spectrum — whether ADHD, autistic, formally diagnosed, or self-identified. Because the app does not require another person to be available, support is always accessible the moment it is needed. Cogs is available on iOS and Android, starts with a 7-day free trial, and is already in active use within the UK's National Health Service (NHS).
Key Features
- Personalized Burnout Profiling: An onboarding questionnaire helps users discover their unique neurodivergent burnout signs, enabling a tailored self-care plan from day one.
- Daily Burnout Tracking: Users log key burnout indicators each day to monitor energy levels and gain awareness of emotional patterns over time.
- Multimodal Reflections: Journal entries can be created via text, drawing, or voice recordings, making emotional processing accessible for all neurodivergent communication styles.
- Self-Regulation Toolkit: A library of music stims, visual stims, breathing exercises, and movement activities helps users focus, calm down, or re-energize on demand.
- Affirmations & Habit Building: Positive affirmations and structured habit prompts encourage consistent daily self-care and long-term emotional resilience.
Use Cases
- An autistic adult uses Cogs daily to track emotional triggers and practice visual stims to de-escalate before burnout sets in.
- A teenager with ADHD builds a bedtime self-care routine using music stims and reflections to reduce pre-sleep anxiety.
- A parent monitors their neurodivergent child's emotional patterns and uses the app's tools to facilitate conversations about feelings.
- A newly diagnosed adult with ADHD completes the onboarding profile to understand their personal burnout signs for the first time.
- An NHS practitioner recommends Cogs as a between-session self-care tool for neurodivergent patients managing anxiety and depression.
Pros
- Built by Neurodivergent Experts: Co-created with the neurodivergent community and led by an autistic CEO with neuroscience credentials, ensuring tools are genuinely fit for purpose.
- Clinically Validated: Used within the NHS and proven to reduce anxiety and depression symptoms by 32%, lending meaningful credibility to the app's methods.
- Always Accessible: Because Cogs requires no therapist or third party, users can access support at any moment — including during meltdowns or overwhelming episodes.
- Holistic, Sensory-Aware Approach: Recognizes the link between sensory experience and emotional state for neurodivergent individuals, addressing both mind and body.
Cons
- Narrow Target Audience: The app is purpose-built for neurodivergent users, making it less relevant for people seeking general-purpose mental health or mindfulness tools.
- Requires Consistent Daily Engagement: The burnout tracking and habit-building features deliver the most benefit with regular daily use, which may be challenging for some users.
- Limited Professional Support Integration: Cogs is a self-care tool and does not offer direct access to licensed therapists or crisis intervention services.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Cogs AI designed for?
Cogs is designed for neurodivergent individuals, including people with ADHD, autism, and related conditions — whether formally diagnosed or self-identified.
Is there a free trial available?
Yes, Cogs offers a 7-day free trial so users can explore all features before committing to a paid subscription.
Has Cogs AI been clinically tested?
Yes. Cogs is used within the UK National Health Service (NHS) and has been shown to improve anxiety and depression symptoms in neurodivergent users by 32%.
What platforms is Cogs available on?
Cogs is available on iOS (App Store) and Android (Google Play Store).
How is Cogs different from other mental health apps?
Unlike general wellness apps, Cogs was co-created with the neurodivergent community and grounded in neuroscience specifically tailored to ADHD and autistic experiences, including sensory-aware self-regulation tools and a burnout-focused framework.
