Use HR and HRV to Monitor Stress/Anxiety (and suggest relaxation/guided breathing)

Use HR and HRV to measure stress level. 24 hour HR graph.
How it works: http://emvio.watch/

 

Moderator Edit: Added Labels

310 Comments
Zzzcat
First Steps
Meant Heart Rate Variability lol. **ahem** autocorrect
Jghrv
First Steps
Please add heart rate variability features to the Fitbit app
Westmir
First Steps
Can your algorithm measure heart rate variability (HRV)? I know it already measures continuous heart rate.
inkratlet
Jogger

Yes! Please add HRV for the Charge

ilse_
First Steps

Hi

To stay healthy, I'd like to reduce my (work-related) stress of which I have too much at the moment. To monitor which tasks give me the most stress and act on it, it would be really helpfull if an HR-Fitbit could give an indication of the stress level I'm in. And maybe even with an alarm when going into an unhealthy stress level. Is it possible to have this feature - which I think is mostly related to heart rate - in the HR-Fitbits?

Kind regards

Ilse

 

ps I have a Flex, but I'm looking at Charge HR for this purpose

mihail
First Steps

Hi! It is very impartant to have HRV in the iOS app for Charge HR. Is it possible now?

mattel
First Steps

This seems like kind of a 'no-brainer' and would instantly make the Charge a legitimate tool for all kinds of athletes - not just endurance athletes. Paying an $50 or so to upgrade the software to a 'pro' version would be easily worth it to anyone who takes their training seriously. 

 

Personally, I don't care about the step and floor counting functionality. I use the sleep tracker and resting heart rate. Those are where the device shines IMO.

 

Resting HR is a decent proxy (for me) for training status, although HRV would be much better. It doesn't matter if the device is less than 100% accurate on recording beats because it can be measuring HRV all night while you are sleeping and collecting enough data to smooth out any blips in the data. HRV is only valid when you are resting anyway.  

Rraymundo
First Steps

There are some devices coming out lately, i.e.// the Bellabeat Leaf and the Spire, that alerts you when you are stressed using your heartrate. Maybe this is a feature Fitbit can look into, since America, as researched, has the most stressed out individuals in the world. This notification feature will allow the individual to stop for a few minutes and meditate or do a 5 minute breathing exercise.

Postulio
First Steps

Hi guys,

My name is Paul and I'm member of the an academic honors society called Phi Theta Kappa.  We are working on a project that focuses on Mental Health, specifically anxiety.  This illness is becoming more prominant in our society and affects nearly everyone. We thought if you could detect it earlier, your ability to mitigate the anxiety would be easier.  The simplest way to help the person through problem is to make them aware of it and then lead them through a simple breathing excersize.  Tying in the pedometer, the app would recognize that the body is not excersizing due to no or very little movement and activate.  Our team was wondering if there is a possible project in action that uses the fitbits stregths (heart rate and the pedometer) in order to help detect anxiety attacks.  Thank you for your time and we look forward to your response.

 

Sincerely,

Paul O.

 

Moderator edit: Removed personal information

 

SunsetRunner
Not applicable

when my boss is stressing me, my heart rate is increasing.

 

that's anxiety.

just monitor your heart rate.

SunsetRunner
Not applicable
That be splendiferous:)
SunsetRunner
Not applicable
As someone who suffers from anxiety, I think this would be fantastic!
Juankarlo
Stepping Up
Hi, I was expecting that the breathing sessions was based on the heart rate. My suggestion is to integrate the breathing session when you are in resting and you heart rate elevate without reason.
I have panic attacks like many people. But this feature will open extremely the market for fitbit. I'm sure this will happen. I'm yet looking for a heart rate monitor to alert me when while I am in resting mode and my heart rate gets to 130. In my case I'm not in cardio, I'm having a panic attack. I hope this suggestion gives you an idea of feature and marketing.
jaceyr
First Steps

I really love this idea, and actually came to the message board to suggest it.  Please let me know if this goes anywhere!

Wdejong
First Steps
Add a function tomthe fitbit app which guides the relax exercise. This way i can sit straight in stead of bending my head to look at my charge 2 for instructions. Also in the app it would be possible to use colors for motivation. Like in other apps like 'inner balance'.
Farzan81
Stepping Up
sometimes i couldn't control my stress its cool if charge 2 and other devices recognize that we have stress and suggest breath guided to relax.
Michael1234
First Steps

I agree. One could use this feature to become more aware of his body's response to everyday stress. When the alarm sounds at the office, you'll know your heart is working needlessly hard--it's time to take a few deep breaths and relax.

 

Farzan81
Stepping Up
Thanks
Farzan81
Stepping Up
Thanks
Farzan81
Stepping Up
Vote please
Thank
Nramz
Jogger

As someone who struggles with anxiety, the option to be prompted to "relax" based on a user set heart rate threahold would be amazing! The sessions themselves are great but during daily stresses it is hard to remember to calm down and take a few minutes to "relax". A silent alarm for something like that would be helpful "mindfulness minutes" if you will

l4urence
Jogger

This is a a great suggestion. I've been monitoring my heart rate for decades, involving checking waking heart rate overtime, a spike in the normal is a good sign that I've not recovered and I can take a break. It can also be an indication of incoming cold or illness. I'm new to the Fitbit and this feature would be outstanding.

I recently purchased a Fitbit Charge 2. I'm super excited about HRV finally being available in one of the mainstream, well designed fitness trackers. Polar has it, but it's just kind of a mess of data and they don't do a great job of making it actionable. You guys have released a fantistic first attempt and I'm excited to see where this goes.

 

Are there any plans to continue to build out the HRV/Relax features? Has there been any thought to include HRV as part of the dashboard, something reviewable, or as something exportable? Right now, it only lives on the watch, and there's no way to track improvement or dive deeper into the data. I want to see how my HRV scores correlate with my other Fitbit data. I love to be be able to spot things that improve my HRV so I can course correct my behavior to improve my HRV.

 

I love that I can do an HRV informed breathing session at any moment, but it's almost too simple. The little sparkles don't give me a whole lot of information, and I can't review the session afterward to see what the sparkles actually mean. Even though I've read the manual several times, I still can't remember with the dots at the bottom mean. Also, I have to prop my wrist up the whole time I'm running a session if I want to see feedback which is uncomfortable in most settings. I'd rather use the screen on my phone to view HRV feedback during and after a session.

 

I've used the emWave2 for 3-4 years now. I love how the emWave2 software provides a measurement, displays different ranges, and shows my progress over time. I also like how the software has different ways you can work with your HRV feedback. However, the actual device is annoying and I have longed for someting better designed and more integrated.

 

I feel like there's a great oppertunity for Fitbit to be a leader in this space. I think there are a lot of us biohackers that want it. I also think there are a bunch of norm-core people that would use it if the data were useful and actionable. You probably have business owners that think otherwise (I'm a UX designer and I know how this goes). What can we do as users to make a case for more development of this feature? How can we show that this is important and worthy of further development?

LK86
First Steps

It would be great if the Charge 2 could use the heart rate data to detect stress (and be able to tell the difference between rapid heartbeat from stress and rapid heartbeat from exercise) and could alert the wearer of oncoming stress. 

Nucleardeanna
First Steps

Great idea. 

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