🧐 A Device to Monitor Your Stress In Real Time
Mental health problems are now on the rise. But here’s how one startup backed by the founder of Tata-1mg and SVP of Pristyn Care is trying to change this.
Mental health problems are constantly on the rise thanks to our fast-paced lives and the massive life-changing events that have taken place in the last two years.
Covid alone has increased cases of depression and anxiety by 25%.
And while quite a few of us are at least openly addressing these issues now, we aren’t really doing much to change the status quo.
So, this Mental Health Awareness Week, we thought we should highlight the true impact of these diseases and what can be done to actually help address them.
💪 The Physical Impact of Mental Illness
A lot of times mental health problems aren’t taken seriously because we can’t see how exactly they’re impacting people.
You see someone with a broken arm, and you automatically empathise with them.
But a lot of us do not understand the pain that a mental illness brings.
That is why depression, anxiety, and stress are often treated lightly and swept under the rug.
But what if we told you that these diseases do have an actual physical impact on you?
Yes, stress, depression and anxiety can cause a number of serious ailments like heart diseases, high blood pressure, and even neurological disorders.
And if you’re still not concerned about the impact of these mental health issues, let us tell you that they also impact your pockets.
💰 The Economic Impact of Mental Health
Yes, you read that right.
Mental health problems are so serious that they’re costing the world roughly $1 trillion each year!
Wondering how?
You see, employees under stress usually take 5% more leaves.
This not only costs them but the whole organisation as productivity goes down.
Multinational companies lose roughly $3.6 million each year to this absenteeism.
And even when these employees are present, they’re often not that productive.
Plus, because of stress, employees often face burnout and quit their jobs.
Replacing these employees ends up costing the organisation around 120%-200% of the concerned employees’ salary.
🤔 So, What’s the Solution?
Well, there are several ways people can solve their mental health issues like therapy, drugs and more.
But a lot of these solutions are not accessible or are very expensive.
Here’s where wearables and wellness apps come in.
These apps like Calm and Dhyana are trying to help people manage their stress and anxiety through guided meditation.
And one app that is trying to revolutionise this space is NowZone.
NowZone is trying to boost people’s mental health and physical health through a combination of tech and ancient Vedic and Buddhist teachings.
The company is not just focusing on meditation but also on deep slow breathing, which it claims can help reduce stress, improve your lifespan, prevent cardiac diseases, boost your immunity and help you sleep better.
To make sure this process doesn’t get boring, it has gamified the sessions, so you can achieve your mental health goals.
And to guide you through this whole process of meditation and deep breathing, the app has several personal as well as AI-based coaches.
What’s more, the company also has a wearable device that can monitor your stress levels and your state of mind in real-time.
So, the next time your boss is stressing you out, NowZone will notify you and suggest methods to calm you down.
Sounds good, right?
But how big is the market for these apps?
Well, over a billion people suffer from mental health problems across the world.
That’s why the top 10 meditation and wellness apps now have over 52 million downloads. Total downloads of these apps exceed over 200 million.
And just the top 10 meditation apps earned a revenue of $195 million in 2019.
And for NowZone, the market could be even broader.
Because the app doesn't just focus on mental health issues. Its core proposition is comprehensive wellness for all. So, it also offers yoga, pranayam, and sleep management sessions.
These sessions are held live under the supervision of wellness coaches.
The platform also has support executives to guide you whenever you need them.
Also, instead of just selling its device to people like you and me, the company could sell it directly to multinational corporations who now want to track employees’ productivity and nurture them.
The workplace wellness market in itself is worth $66 billion.
Furthermore, the company is planning on launching a remote device that can monitor patients’ heart and breathing rates.
This device could have a lot of potential users and could be instrumental in saving people’s lives.
This is why many influential people have already invested in the company. Here take a look:
Wondering what else NowZone plans to do in the future?
Join us for an Insider Insights session with NowZone’s co-founder Akash Madnani and the NowZone leadership team this Sunday, May 15 at 7 pm.
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