Attempts to solve anxiety can be costly at best, and questionable for your health at worst (here’s looking at you, Xanax). But what if an electronic device could solve all of that?
That’s the goal of Thync ($199), a palm-size device that users attach to their foreheads to receive electronic pulses to either calm them down or give them a boost of energy.
“It works by stimulating nerves under the skin” similar to acupuncture, explains co-creator Isy Goldwasser. “These nerves are the same nerves [triggered] when you get a massage.”
As a constant worrier, I was willing to give the gadget a try.
I strapped on the Thync in the evening, just as my mental to-do list for the next day was starting to get the best of me — and spent the next 10 minutes falling into a state of heavenly calm. The device connects via Bluetooth to an app on your smartphone. A soft voice instructs you to focus on your breathing and lets you know when the pulses will get stronger or weaker. I felt a painful, prickling sensation when the pulses got too strong, but later experienced one of the best nights of sleep I’ve had in months.
The energizing mode was less successful. After a 10-minute morning session, I still had no desire to get out of bed.
In the end, it was hard to discern what it was that truly made me relax while wearing Thync: the device itself, or that I was taking 10 minutes out of my hectic day to tune out the rest of the world.