Table of Contents
Are these gadgets the answer or the devil?
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is usually a normal response to stress in everyday life, such as when you have to face your new boss or take an important test. Normally, it is beneficial because it prepares you to get ready to handle challenging situations.
But when this stress brings excessive fear, it becomes an anxiety disorder [1]. Nowadays people are using a lot of anxiety-relieving gadgets, including the usage of anxiety rings, anxiety bracelets and anxiety pens.
When experiencing anxiety, your body produces stress hormones, i.e., cortisol, the primary hormone, and a chemical known as norepinephrine. These hormones create a fight-or-flight response in your body. These hormones send impulses for certain body acts such as biting your nails, pulling your hair, upward and downward repetitive leg movements, and even panic attacks and phobias [2].
Anxiety is an emotion that any individual can feel in response to some situations. This causes tension, anxious thoughts, and high blood pressure.
Anxiety disorders affect about 30% of individuals at some point in their lifetime. In the U.S., 40 million people suffer from anxiety disorders. Many people seek help to deal with their anxiety because it is disturbing their lives. They look for treatments. Typically, treatments include medicine or some form of therapy. But many individuals are taking help from non-medical stuff such as anxiety rings, anxiety pens, or anxiety bracelets [1].
Symptoms of anxiety
The common symptoms of anxiety include feelings of coldness or sweatiness in the hands, dry mouth, irregular heartbeats, nausea, numb hands or feet, difficulty breathing, and muscle tension.
Mental symptoms include panic attacks, excessive fear, nightmares, and the recalling of traumatic experiences. Behavioural symptoms include irritability, repeated behaviours, and difficulty sleeping [3].
Ways to treat anxiety
There are many ways to treat anxiety, such as yoga, deep breathing exercises, meditation, walking, and much more. But some other anxiety-relieving gadgets are in style these days. Anxiety rings, bracelets with acupuncture techniques, crystals, oils or aromatic compounds, and anxiety pens, including CBD vapes, are examples [4].
Anxiety rings
Fidgeting is one-way people respond to anxiety by releasing nervous energy. We fidget because the elevated stress hormone prepares our muscles for sudden exertion. Research has shown that fidgeting lowers cortisol, the stress hormone, clears our heads, and improves memory. [5]
Anxiety rings are finger fidgets that have a soothing effect on the mind and body. Spinner rings are thought to have originated from ancient Tibetan meditation practices. And in the modern era, it is still used to deal with anxiety. Rings are available in different materials, colours, and designs to deal with mental nervousness. Rings consist of moveable parts that can be moved with another finger; they may consist of light vibration or humming to eliminate overthinking and relax the mind [6].
Anxiety bracelets
Some people believe that anxiety bracelets can help to relieve stress. They believe it gives them energy and calm, and helps with anxiety. The anxiety bracelets (think worry beads) are sometimes made from calming crystals or oils or may be created to provide acupuncture therapy. Anxiety bracelets are not equally effective for everyone. The main reason anxiety bracelets might work is they divert the mind during stress or tension, and away from the feelings of anxiety.
While bracelets with crystals are thought by some to aid healing, the reality is there is little or no evidence that they do.
Anxiety pens
Anxiety pens are similar to any anxiety-relieving devices that aid people in combating anxiety. Anxiety pens are of two kinds, i.e., the pens consisting of CBD and the pens emitting soft light, essential oils composed of critical oil, breathing timers, or fidget spinners.
Adverse effects of anxiety rings, pens, and bracelets
Many use anxiety rings, bracelets, or pens to treat their anxiety. These are popular because they claim to produce quick results. Other anxiety treatments need time, effort, and practice to overcome the problem. That’s why people prefer these quick solutions. However, the reality is that these are just distractions.
But in reality, these are harmful and are responsible for creating habitual avoidance behaviours in an effort to quell the feelings of anxiety. These anxiety-relieving gadgets help you distract from stressful conditions for some time, teaching you how to avoid stressful situations instead of treating the underlying causes.
Temporary avoidance restricts the mind’s ability to understand, tolerate, and make an effort to deal with difficult situations, causing anxiety. A long-term strategy needs effort and practice [7].
Anxiety rings, bracelets and pens have no scientific evidence aside from temporarily distracting from the situation you’re in at the time. They do not help treat underlying causes.
Hypnotherapy is an alternative way to treat anxiety
Hypnotherapy is a therapy in which individuals are taken into a trance-like state. Hypnotherapy aims to establish better control over the state of awareness. Hypnotherapy usually has an hour-long session. During that time, the client is helped into to a relaxed state, keeping them aware and conscious. In a relaxed state, your mind is more receptive to hypnotherapists’ suggestions. You can discuss your emotions and feelings with therapists that cause anxiety. The therapist instructs the client’s subconscious mind to deal with unwanted behaviours and provides guidance to replace harmful and destructive behaviours with good ones.
The University of New Hampshire declared that hypnotherapy aids a person in learning, reducing, or controlling feelings or emotions of anxiety and sadness [9].
Hypnotherapy develops a relaxing state by focusing on the subconscious mind. The hypnotherapist helps explore hidden bad memories, create healthy habits, or reprogram a worried brain. Hypnotherapists provide posthypnotic suggestions in a relaxed state of mind. The dreamlike state makes your mind receptive to suggestions. It helps fight anxiety, phobias, and related symptoms such as difficulty breathing, increased heartbeat, muscle tension, nausea, and irritability.
In 2016, research showed that hypnotherapy has positive effects on the brain. The scientists observed the brain’s activities during a hypnotherapy session. The changes in the brain give the person improved attention, greater emotional control, and reduced self-consciousness [8].
A meta-analysis was conducted to investigate hypnotherapy’s efficacy in controlling anxiety. In this meta-analysis, 17 trials were performed to evaluate the hypnotherapy efficacy. The results showed that the participating individuals receiving hypnotherapy reduced anxiety by 79% more than the control group [9].
Conclusion:
Anxiety rings, pens, and bracelets are thought to relieve anxiety. Still, these do not provide a long-term beneficial effect to treat anxiety. Hypnotherapy is one of the practical and proven strategies to deal with anxiety and anxiety-related symptoms.
References:
- https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/anxiety-disorders/what-are-anxiety-disorders
- Sluggett, L. (2022, August 24). The Anxiety Ring: TikTok’s Latest Trend or Does it Really Work? Focus Mental Wellness. Retrieved February 11, 2023, from https://focusmw.com/anxiety-rings/
- C. (n.d.). Anxiety Disorders: Types, Causes, Symptoms & Treatments. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9536-anxiety-disorders
- 38 Highly Effective Stress Relievers. (2022, October 19). Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/tips-to-reduce-stress-3145195
- H. Reinecke, K. C., Dvoretska, D., Joraschky, P., & Lausberg, H. (2020, July 7). Fidgeting Behavior During Psychotherapy: Hand Movement Structure Contains Information About Depressive Symptoms – Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy. SpringerLink. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10879-020-09465-5
- DO ANXIETY RINGS REALLY WORK? | Mya Care. (2022, April 13). DO ANXIETY RINGS REALLY WORK? | Mya Care. https://myacare.com/blog/do-anxiety-rings-really-work
- Jiang, H., White, M. P., Greicius, M. D., Waelde, L. C., & Spiegel, D. (2017, August 1). Brain Activity and Functional Connectivity Associated with Hypnosis. OUP Academic. https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article/27/8/4083/3056452
- Hypnotherapy and Depression: How it Works. (n.d.). Hypnotherapy and Depression: How It Works. https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/hypnotherapy
- Valentine, K. E., Milling, L. S., Clark, L. J., & Moriarty, C. L. (2019). THE EFFICACY OF HYPNOSIS AS A TREATMENT FOR ANXIETY: A META-ANALYSIS. The International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis, 67(3), 336–363. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2019.1613863