The past few years have been full of upheaval and drastic changes, where the whole world has had to shift to online alternatives for everyday activities. This has had a big impact on mental health resources, treatments, and approaches, with innovative new technology and a wealth of new virtual options. We take a look at four mental health trends to try in 2023.
Control your mood with wearable technology
One of the most innovative mental health trends that you can try in 2023 is Hapbee wearables. The augmentative device uses low-energy magnetic fields to send a signal to your brain to create different moods.
When wearing the Hapbee band, you can control your mood via an app that connects to it, choosing from several moods including calm, alert, happy, focused, relaxed, and sleepy.
If you have trouble sleeping or staying focused, this device is going to be a useful way of controlling your emotions and giving you more power over how you are feeling. There have been lots of positive experiences with the Hapbee device — as attested to in this MarTech Series piece, so it’s going to be one of the key mental health trends for 2023.
Virtual therapy
For many people, therapy is an important way to tackle and work through mental health issues, but it’s not always accessible to everyone. There are, however, a growing number of online therapy options, such as Talkspace. These make it easier and more convenient for people to schedule therapy appointments, which can be done via video call, messaging, or on the phone.
When you sign up for Talkspace you’ll complete a questionnaire that asks you about yourself, your life, goals, and preferences, which is then used to match you with several different therapists to choose from. All of the therapists are well experienced, licensed, and accredited and have to pass thorough background checks. Once you’ve chosen a therapist you’re set up in a virtual therapy room, which can be accessed via the app or web browser, and you can message your therapist.
If you’ve considered therapy but been put off by trying to find a suitable therapist or struggled to fit it into your schedule then virtual therapy is definitely worth trying in 2023.
Meditation apps
Meditation provides a wide range of benefits including reducing stress and anxiety, improving sleep, and helping with a range of mental health conditions. Using meditation and mindfulness techniques have also been shown to help with chronic pain and blood pressure.
It’s been a popular trend in mental health and wellbeing for a while, but if you don’t know where to get started with it, then there are a number of different apps that can help.
One of the most popular options is Headspace — as featured in this Wirecutter round up of the best meditation apps. The Headspace meditation app offers a wide range of guided meditation sessions that are great for beginners and helps you to progress through to less structured meditations.
If your thoughts are sometimes overwhelming and you struggle to clear your mind then meditation apps are definitely something to check out in 2023.
Online fitness classes
Exercise can have a significant positive impact on the mind, but whether it’s because you’re lacking motivation or you struggle to fit it into your daily schedule, it’s easy to put it off. Home workouts and online fitness classes are providing a simple way to start exercising and help improve physical and mental health.
Throughout 2020 there’s been a huge increase in the range of different fitness videos due to lockdowns and quarantine restrictions, which means in 2023 you can try out anything from HIIT classes to ballet dancing in the comfort of your own home. In particular, for mental health, yoga is a good way to adjust your state of mind and can help you to feel more balanced, relieve stress, and improve sleeping habits.
Whether it’s through meditation apps or wearable tech, mental health trends in 2023 are going to support and resources more easily accessible for many people.
