Mood is an integral component of mental health and can be monitored using devices that record physiological signals. Such devices monitor sleeping patterns and heart rate variability in order to detect stress or anxiety symptoms.
Passive sensors may offer people greater insight into their symptoms, leading them to seek treatment sooner. But these passive sensors don’t work for everyone.
Lief
Lief is a discreet, clinically accurate bright patch and mobile app designed to teach you to control your stress response through guided biofeedback exercises. Lief measures heart rate variability (HRV), which has long been recognized as an indicator of mental health and emotion regulation, to enable adaptive techniques for anxiety management. Real-time feedback combined with simple meditation-based interventions help users learn adaptive skills for managing anxiety more successfully.
Downtime Dose is one of Lief’s critical exercises, designed to synchronize heart rate with breath and activate parasympathetic “rest and digest” mode via vibration feedback. Studies have demonstrated its efficacy in helping reduce anxiety in as little as one week – it can be found under Menu > Train.
Lief app also offers additional modes that users may find engaging, such as listening to your heartbeat in heartbeat mode and practising slow, deep diaphragmatic breathing with pace breathing mode. Some may use these features for centring meditation sessions or sleep-inducing purposes; however, its primary goal is increasing overall HRV through Zone-Based Training.
Start by charging your Lief device for 2-3 hours on its included charging pad and downloading the mobile app from the Apple App Store or Google Play. Snap-in ECG stickers according to User Manual instructions before centring the Lief device over your torso using the straps provided – then follow these instructions through setup, onboarding and biofeedback exercises designed to increase HRV resilience in response to stressors using the biofeedback exercises from the Lief app.
Fitbit
Fitbit is one of the world’s leading wearable fitness trackers, featuring an array of features at an accessible price point that suits nearly anyone. Users can compete against friends in challenges while viewing their progress over time on its app. Most Fitbit trackers can also monitor heart rate and sleep quality and record multiple types of workouts.
Fitbit’s trackers can assist with stress management. Their ECG app alerts the user of any abnormal heart rhythms, while their EDA sensor tracks your body’s response to stress by measuring slight electrical changes in sweat levels on your skin. When combined with guided mindfulness sessions in their app, this can help reduce anxiety and stress levels significantly.
Fitbit trackers have been compromised in various ways, with some people using them to monitor the effects of more complex drugs at festivals like Burning Man. In 2018, however, Fitbit announced that it was making changes to its platform to prevent misuse.
Fitbit experienced several server outages in 2023 and decided to require its users to migrate their accounts over to Google accounts by the summer if they wanted to continue using its latest products, such as Versa 6 and Pixel Watch 2. However, many customers were upset by this change, so much so that Fitbit made adjustments shortly after that.
For anyone new to Fitbit’s smartwatches, the Inspire 3 makes an excellent first purchase, as its lower cost makes it accessible for more budget-minded buyers while still offering many essentials – advanced workout tracking, automatic swim-tracking and 10-day battery life; accurate sleep insights as well as built-in GPS for standalone running watch functionality make this watch suitable.
Fitbit’s Sense 2 comes close to replicating an Apple Watch, featuring an AMOLED screen with many of the same high-end features found in more expensive devices, including GPS tracking, ECG monitoring and an EDA sensor that monitors stress levels.
NeuroZen Headband
Modern medical technology holds great promise to transform mental health care. Telehealth and virtual reality devices are already helping individuals cope with stress and anxiety more effectively. Yet, these innovations raise many ethical and privacy issues, necessitating careful regulation so users are aware of their rights.
The NeuroZen Headband is a wearable that tracks brainwaves and provides feedback to help you relax and concentrate more easily. Designed to reduce stress, increase mental focus, and enhance sleep quality using neuroscience and meditation techniques to create a calm state and positive mental outlook – its particular audio frequencies and relaxing visualizations of peaceful scenes help take your mind into deep relaxation states.
This device includes sensors that measure heart rate, body movement, and posture, as well as a sound generator to create soothing sounds like rainforest sounds to calm you and assist you with sleeping. In addition, the device also tells you how well you slept and provides feedback that helps improve future sleeping sessions.
Athleticians are using wearable technology to train their minds for better performance. For instance, the Crown EEG headband tracks gamma waves in the brain to measure concentration. This enables athletes to practice focusing their thoughts and reducing stress, both of which improve performance and enhance memory recall.
This EEG headband monitors 1,250 data points in your brainwave signals and sends them directly to a smartphone app, scoring them from 0-100 on a scale from calmest to most stressed out. According to Max Newlon, president of this company, exercising your brain can also make you more relaxed – just as physical exercises strengthen muscles.
NeuroZen Headband is the first exclusively used brain stimulation device with textile sensors, making it both comfortable to wear and easy to set up. Furthermore, this lightweight EEG headset can be used anywhere and is compatible with all phones, ultimately providing convenient yet affordable treatment solutions for people who have PTSD or other mental illnesses.
VR Therapy
Virtual reality (VR) provides an innovative environment for delivering mental health treatments, enabling therapists to immerse their clients in virtual worlds tailored specifically for specific disorders such as anxiety, depression, and PTSD. VR treatments have proven effective against numerous conditions, including anxiety, depression and PTSD, backed by research with immersive experiences adapting in real-time based on biofeedback from clients – for instance, a client afraid of flying can use simulations that take them through all steps from waiting at the gate until boarding the plane – as this allows therapists can immerse their clients in virtual worlds explicitly tailored for that disorder.
Virtual reality devices use technology that uses physiological measurements, including electroencephalography (EEG). VR devices provide high levels of accuracy and reliability, which makes them especially helpful in diagnosing depression since self-reporting methods may be unreliable.
Another advantage of the new technology is that it can be used at home, eliminating the need to visit a clinic. This is especially helpful for busy professionals or those with limited mobility who may find visiting difficult. Furthermore, virtual reality devices have become more affordable; Psylaris developed an app that clients can use at home by wearing both headset and sensor at the same time.
Though VR-based treatment has the potential to enhance outcomes significantly, several barriers must be overcome before implementation can take place. First and foremost is proper therapist training when administering such therapies; additionally, tailored treatment must be tailored specifically for every individual as retraumatizing experiences can occur; moreover, a thorough clinical assessment, including standardized semi-structured diagnostic interviews, should also be carried out alongside an examination for any comorbid conditions; finally methodologically rigorous VR research must take place so as to strengthen evidence supporting its use for treating mental illnesses.