Price: Free     Score: 8/10     Category: Medical

They say hypnosis is one of those things that works on some people, and not at all on others. My only experience with hypnosis is limited to a post-Prom party my junior year of high school. A trained hypnotist came in, and try as I might, I just couldn’t seem to fall under his “spell.”

But I digress. Regardless of how you feel about hypnosis, there’s no reason not to check out Stress Release Hypnosis, developed by AppIt Ventures. After all, it’s free, and if there’s even a chance it could help you de-stress, you’d be remiss if you didn’t at least give the app a fair shake.

For me, a couple of things about Stress Release Hypnosis make me chuckle. The pink background art combined with some unfortunate font choices actually started stressing me out (chalk that up to a past job editing other people’s graphic design, I guess.) I also got a giggle out of the pop-up window that warned me not to use the app while driving or operating heavy machinery.

But once you delve deeper into Stress Release Hypnosis, it’s actually, surprisingly helpful. The stress reduction track is the only free track (you have to pay $1.99 each to unlock the other tracks, which include weight loss and something called “Health, Wealth, and Happiness.)

The “stress” track is 15 minutes long, and features calming noises paired with a soft female voice. And I kid you not, once it got going, I really did start getting a bit sleepy and very, very, relaxed. I was totally skeptical, but Stress Release Hypnosis really worked for me, though I’m not sure if it would be as effective if used over and over again.

Bottom Line: Even if you have your doubts about it, check out Stress Release Hypnosis if you need to lower your blood pressure, forget about a bad day at work, or get to sleep at night.

Stress Release Hypnosis is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.