Anxiously seeking solutions: new businesses offer you wellness. From the article: 

Americans are anxious—and a flurry of old-line companies, upstarts and opportunistic entrepreneurs aim to fill the demand for relief.

Anxiety has come into focus across the country in part due to the stress of the pandemic, increased awareness about mental health and more screening in schools and at doctors’ offices. In a recent federal survey, 27% of respondents reported they had symptoms of an anxiety disorder. That’s up from 8% in 2019, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Americans looking for help have found that the supply of available and qualified therapists hasn’t kept up with demand. Some can’t afford the fees. That has left a growing industry geared toward anxiety outside the medical and traditional mental-health professions, including supplements, products and mental-health coaches….

Wearable devices aren’t regulated if they are intended for general wellness. Some scientists say there haven’t been enough large-scale, peer-reviewed studies to determine whether such products, which can cost hundreds of dollars, work. There’s also limited research on mental-health coaching, and clinicians warn that adequate training is needed to identify people in crisis and direct them to appropriate treatment.

Some in the industry say the science will catch up, and their goal is to fill the gap in a shortage of options for treatment….

In the three years since the start of the pandemic in the U.S., nearly three patients in 100 who entered a healthcare facility left with a newly diagnosed anxiety disorder. That rate is higher than cancer or diabetes, according to healthcare and analytics company Truveta….

An array of wearable devices and apps that claim to tame anxiety led the American Psychiatric Association to recently create a tool to help members evaluate their usefulness. 

Products include the $325 Apollo Neuro, a small, wearable device that uses waves of vibrations in an attempt to mimic the body’s natural, calming response to touch…. Sensate is a $299 device that people can place on their chests. The company said that the product’s humming vibrations signal the vagus nerve—which runs from the brain to the digestive system—to relax, and that its own initial studies have been promising. The $250 Muse meditation headband says it can monitor brain waves and act as a kind of meditation coach…..

Growing demand for telehealth has led to the rise of mental-health coaches who work with clients online, including at Headspace, which operates a popular meditation app and sells mental-health telehealth services to employers and health insurance plans under its Ginger brand….

Headspace started its own training program accredited by the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching, which began offering a certification exam in 2017. The organization has certified more than 9,000 health coaches, who receive at least 75 hours of schooling—compared with years of training for psychologists and social workers.

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