Meet the Mind and Heart Behind Yana

Andrea Campos, the founder of mental well-being app Yana (an acronym for “you are not alone”), started her personal mental-health journey when she was a child.

“My first depressive episode was at the age of 8. I thought I was a person who’d been born sad,” she tells us.

Campos was taken to a professional for help, but when her therapist moved away, the sessions stopped. After that, her sleep became disrupted and her memory, friendships, and school performance all suffered.

“Throughout my school years, I grew up thinking I was dumb,” she recalls.

After years of experimenting with different forms of therapy, Campos began cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) at age 23, and it deeply resonated with her. Her treatment coincided with a coding course she was taking, and those two experiences together sparked the idea for Yana: an app that uses CBT-based strategies to support people with depression and anxiety.

After her first encounter with behavioral activations (using behaviors to activate positive feelings), Campos saw an opportunity to create a system that could automate the questions and interactions that are integral to CBT therapy—with the additions of a little creative flair and kindness.

In 2016 this formed the foundation for her coding course graduation project. Overcoming the shame she felt about sharing her idea with the world and the anecdotal history behind it, Campos brought her vision to life with the help of a small team, along with the input of a verified health professional.

That same year, her team participated in a Startup Weekend in Mexico. Their work was received positively, which was encouraging for Campos and her team.

“I told my story while pitching the idea and people were asking me where they could download it. People I had never met before started to talk to me about their own depression,” Campos says.

Yana launched in early 2020. It was only available in Spanish until 2023, when it launched in English for the first time. The app enables users to initiate a CBT-based interaction via a chatbox. Based on your input, Yana provides guidance on identifying and navigating your experience, no matter what it is.

By 2021 the app started to gain popularity across social platforms, particularly among teenagers and young adults.

“People began to make videos of themselves crying, showing their conversations with Yana,” Campos says.

During a period of uncertainty and strained mental capacity for many, Yana proved to be an invaluable tool. Young people shared how Yana helped them in times of crisis, showing their interactions and highlighting some of the app’s key functionalities.

Campos doesn’t see Yana as an app that replaces therapy: “We see a collaborative relationship in which the therapist always plays an irreplaceable role,” she says.

With a younger generation that’s clearly ready to have more open conversations around mental health without the stigma that’s impeded public discussion for years, Campos and the Yana team are constantly assessing what other tools will allow users to feel empowered when it comes to their mental health.

“What I want is to combat the lack of education and tools to deal with day-to-day life,” she says. “The mental-health revolution is now.”

Yana: Your emotional companion

A friend to feel better

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