Women carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, between managing careers, families, overwhelming beauty standards, and the stress of everyday life.
As such, it’s no wonder that women are more frequently diagnosed with depression and anxiety than their male counterparts.
While nothing will replace deep work and professional help, smart tech is easing the burden that many women experience on a daily basis. Tech is helping to lighten the emotional load and help women create space for healing. Here are some powerful ways new smart tech can support women’s mental wellness.
Prompting Self-Care Reminders
One of the main challenges women face when taking care of their mental health is forgetting to prioritize self-care. With so much going on and so many people competing for their attention, simple tasks like meditating for two minutes or taking the time to unplug before bed can easily get overlooked.
Self-care is an action that must be taken every day; it’s not something that can be put on the backburner. “Me time” every couple of months or a massage every few weeks isn’t enough to ensure proper mental and emotional health.
Sometimes, a simple alert is all it takes to remind women to focus on their self-care. This can come in the form of a heart rate and stress warning from wearable tech or a notification from a smart home assistant or even just an alarm on your phone.
Promoting Quality Rest
Sleep deprivation is a silent killer that impacts everything from cognitive function to mental health. Both men and women need 7-9 hours of sleep per night for optimal physical and mental function, although women tend to need slightly more than men. This is related to their hormonal function, which impacts circadian rhythms.
Smart technology can help promote better sleep, which aids in hormonal regulation and better mental wellness. Smart wearables like Hapbee send signals to the brain, indicating that it’s time to sleep, and can offset any disruptions to one’s circadian rhythms. This device can also provide a midday energy boost to end the vicious cycle of needing coffee to stay awake and not being able to sleep because of caffeine.
Providing Valuable Data
Though it might not seem like it, mental wellness, thoughts, and feelings are all a part of science— and science runs on data. Smart devices can track biometrics to provide deeper insights into potential triggers that cause mental unrest. For a woman on the go, being in tune with her body signals can be challenging. Pair that with the fact that diet culture and the beauty industry create marketing plans to create confusion and disconnection, things can get so confusing.
An integral part of self-awareness and emotional processing is the ability to identify emotions and label their cause. Smart tech and wearables help provide that data. It could be as simple as a warning that your blood sugar is low and you need to eat. Or, you might do a simple analysis to determine why you feel so foggy and unwell and determine that you haven’t hydrated or you’ve taken way more steps than usual.
Data points also provide information for healthcare professionals to assist in diagnostics and treatment when mental health issues arise. AI-driven smart journals are being used to help women work through mental health issues. Apps like Sanvello capture these data points and provide an option to share them with a therapist or healthcare professional to look at the bigger picture.
Creating a Great Atmosphere
Not all smart tech that impacts mental wellness is directly related to the body; you can also use smart technology to create a safe and calming atmosphere. Adding smart technology to one’s home or office can make the environment more energizing and relaxing, promoting productivity while offsetting stress.
For example, a smart thermostat and smart lights at home can create a relaxing environment that promotes rest while minimizing electricity costs, creating less stress.
Smart devices can also handle some of the burdens women face when working, raising a family, trying to be physically active, etc. A home assistant can provide details on a schedule, sync calendars, and even automate repetitive tasks to make the mental load just a little easier.
When used in the right settings, smart tech can help women by promoting the foundations of mental wellness: better rest, less stress, and more happiness.
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