It is fascinating to think how far we have come since Socrates in the 4th century BC said, “know thyself.” In recent years, there has been a rapid proliferation of at-home devices that give us feedback about various biological processes occurring in our body in real time. We can now monitor our heart rate, oxygen saturation, sleep, EEG, blood glucose, muscle tension and more. We can use this information to see when we are falling out of our optimal state of well-being and identify daily stressors such as fatigue, dehydration or hunger that can be remedied.
Mike Dannheim, founder and CEO of the Sensie app and an expert in the consumer technology and wellness field, offers the following perspective: “These moments of anxiety or stress carry a gift and when we learn to embrace them and to look at them, our lives take on a whole new meaning. These signals are coming from us, by us, to guide us. Technology is helping us identify these sources of stress early on so they don’t become ingrained patterns of behavior or disease, and we can stay well. We are becoming increasingly aware of how much our whole body is part of mental health and these tools are giving us new ways of looking at the mind-body connection.”
We all know our biology affects our psychology. Think “Hangry.” If we properly identify the source, we can fix the problem rapidly with a snack. If we think our partner/boss/child is the issue, we can go far down the wrong rabbit hole and find it difficult to climb out.
Devices are also being designed to help us directly improve our mental state by providing immediate intervention. They can be used at home or on the go to reduce anxieties that have not yet progressed to disease states by stimulating the vagal nerves. These nerves make up our parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS), the calming part of our nervous system that allows us to “rest and digest” or “tend and befriend.” The PSNS counteracts our sympathetic nervous system (SNS) our “fight or flight” response which for many of us is in overdrive. Other devices provide calm-inducing vibrations or sounds, which work to alter your body on a cellular level and or alter your energy field.
Here are a few of the most popular monitoring devices designed to enhance mental health:
1. The Oura Ring (ouraring.com) is a sleep and activity tracker that provides insights into sleep quality, recovery and overall health. It measures various physiological signals, including heart rate variability, body temperature and respiratory rate, to provide a comprehensive picture of the user’s sleep patterns and readiness for the day ahead. Similar devices designed as wristbands include Whoop (Whoop.com), Apple Watch (apple.com), Garmin (Garmin.com) and Fitbit (fitbit.com). If you prefer a non-wearable device to monitor your sleep, Withings (withings.com) products slide under your mattress and allows you to see data on your smartphone or computer. As we know, sleep is the base of the wellness pyramid so correcting your sleep is key to mental well-being and is a good entry point for many exploring this new landscape. In the case of sleep trackers, Dr. Avinesh Bhar, founding sleep physician at SLIIIP, reminds us that addressing restless sleep, reduced deep/REM sleep (common outputs seen with sleep trackers) is key to improving symptoms of depression and/or anxiety and often require medical interventions.
2. Hexoskin (hexoskin.com) smart shirts allow continuous cardiac, respiratory and activity monitoring and can be used for sleep or during the day. It is available to anyone and is being used by high level athletes, first responder and military personnel to help them manage stressful situations more effectively and build resiliency.
3. HeartMath (heartmath.com) allows users to wear a heart rate monitor and see their heart rate in real-time. They train users to understand what a healthy coherent heart rate looks like versus an incoherent rate, and they provide online education to teach users how to control their heart rate.
4. Lief Therapeutics (getlief.com) offers a wearable device that tracks heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of the body’s ability to respond to stress. The device provides real-time feedback on the user’s stress levels. They offer guided breathing exercises to help users regain a sense of calm. The user can look at times of their day when HRV spikes and work to prevent that in the future days.
5. Sensie (joinsensie.com) is an AI app that uses advanced sensors in your smartphone to identify blind spots, self-process them and measure resilience. It is an innovative tool to measure the user’s mental wellness by accessing data directly from the cerebellum via movement.
6. Muse (choosemuse.com) is a headband that uses electroencephalography (EEG) technology to measure brain activity during meditation sessions. It provides real-time feedback on the user’s level of focus and calmness, helping them develop a more effective meditation practice.
7. Thyself (Thyself.ai) listens to your voice on your computer and giving you real-time feedback on your level of stress based on tonality. While they are not therapists, they describe themselves as “emotional work companions”.
Devices that deliver direct therapeutic effects include the following:
1. Apollo Neuro (apolloneuro.com) is a wearable band that delivers gentle soothing vibrations to help you recover from stress. It is worn on the wrist or ankle and delivers precise patterns of vibration that are designed to promote relaxation and improve sleep, focus, and overall well-being. The inventors describe it as “a wearable hug for your nervous system that uses silent, soothing vibrations to rebalance your body and mind.”
2. TouchPoint (thetouchpointsolution.com) provides similar devices that can be placed on the shoulder, wrists, pockets or in socks and uses on the left and right side of the body and provides alternating vibrations to help decrease stress and anxiety.
3. Truvaga (truvaga.com) is a handheld device that users can place on their neck to stimulate the vagus nerve and induce a calmer state. Our vagus nerve travels close to the surface of our neck so can be easily stimulated there.
4. Pulsetto (pulsetto.tech) is a similar device you can wear around your neck. It also works by sending electrical impulses to your vagus nerve.
5. Sensate (getsensate.com) provides a wearable necklace and earphones. It provides soft vibrations to the chest while the user listens to soundscapes providing an immersive experience.
6. Huso (thisishuso.com) delivers enhanced human toning sounds through headphones as well as pads placed on major acupuncture meridians. They use specific modulated frequencies that are balancing and harmonizing throughout the body.
While these wearable devices and apps show promise in supporting mental health, it’s important to note that they should not be considered a substitute for professional medical treatment or therapy. For many, when used in conjunction with traditional interventions, they can provide valuable insights, promote self-awareness and possibly deliver quick short-term relief.
Some credit the devices with allowing for detection of disease more rapidly like a 50-year-old woman who was wearing the Oura Ring and discovered a rapid heart during her sleep. She brought the data to her internist who ordered further testing, which diagnosed her thyroid disease. Many athletes like Matthew Bielamowicz, an avid climber, says, “I love my smartwatch and can’t imagine my life without it. I bring it on adventures all over the world to track my sleep, heart rate and recovery-including up to 18,500 feet of elevation above Everest Base Camp.” His mother adds that she is also grateful for the geo-tracking abilities as that helps decrease her anxiety.
With any technology, not everyone finds them useful or enjoyable. A friend humorously quipped, “I used a sleep app for a while, but it made me so upset when I didn’t get at least seven hours. If I was short by one minute, I would feel like I hadn’t slept at all. So, I decided it was making me nutty(er).” Concerns around data privacy and security should also be carefully considered when using wearable technology or apps for health monitoring.
As this technology continues to evolve, it is likely to play an increasingly important role in promoting accessible and personalized health care. Socrates also said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” It is up to each of us to discover for ourselves what that means in our modern and rapidly changing world.
Beverly Hills Courier columnist Dr. Eva Ritvo is a psychiatrist with more than 30 years’ experience practicing in Miami Beach. She is the author of “Bekindr-The Transformative Power of Kindness” and the founder of the Bekindr Global Initiative, a movement to bring more kindness in the world. She is the co-author of “The Beauty Prescription” and “The Concise Guide to Marriage and Family Therapy.” She is also the co-founder of the Bold Beauty Project, a nonprofit that pairs women with disabilities with award-winning photographers creating art exhibitions to raise awareness. Dr. Ritvo received her undergraduate and medical degrees from UCLA, and psychiatry residency training at Weill Cornell Medicine.
