• World’s first real-time sports anxiety tracker reveals whether Eagles or Chiefs fans feeling nervier
• Learn your own Super Bowl “fanxiety” level: both pre-game and in-game
• AQ invites public to join panel of participating fans: FREE
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Psychologist prescribes Super Bowl stressbusters for anxious fans
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Do you have the symptoms? Racing heart, sweaty palms, urge to hide behind furniture
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Tension too much? Try earlobe massage: alternate nostril breathing; yoga pose, says anxiety specialist.
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Players will not be the only ones under stress at this year’s Super Bowl on February 12, says a top anxiety expert.
Many watching fans will also be suffering from Super Bowl “fanxiety”, says the neuropsychologist behind AQ, an anxiety management app and its new “Super Bowl Fanxiety Tracker” – the world’s first, real-time sports anxiety tracker, which lets anyone track their own Super Bowl fanxiety levels, both leading up to the big game and during the game itself.
But which of the two Super Bowl teams – the Chiefs or Eagles – has the cooler, calmer fans and which the more anxious?
“Fanxiety can strike at any point”, says Dr. Shaun Nanavati, neuropsychologist and AQ’s Chief Science Officer, “but will tend to spike towards the end of close games.” Symptoms may include racing heart-rate, rapid breathing, sweaty palms.
AQ’s new Super Bowl Fanxiety Tracker lets football fans and others track their own Super Bowl fanxiety levels – both in the run-up to the big game and then during the game itself.
By first asking users which Super Bowl team they’re backing and whether they’re a diehard or casual fan, AQ will be able to compare the anxiety levels of each team’s fans and so reveal which team’s are calmer or more anxious.
AQ is assembling a panel comprising fans of both teams to take part in the unique exercise – and inviting the public to join it.
There is no cost to do so, which just involves using the app’s new online tool to pick a team and letting the app automatically track their Super Bowl Fanxiety levels – but participants need an Apple Watch.
AQ’s new Super Bowl Fanxiety Tracker is now live and tracks your anxiety since the end of the AFC Conference Championship game at 10:00 PM ET on January 29.
It will show you what percentage of your time since then you have been either “Anxious”, “Calm” or “Neutral.”
Even if you only start using AQ’s new tool to track your fanxiety moments before kick-off on Super Bowl Sunday, AQ will be able to go back and pull your heart-rate data from when the Super Bowl teams were first known on January 29.
“We expect fanxiety levels to rise once the Super Bowl kicks off and then, if the game’s close, to peak in the fourth quarter”, says AQ’s Dr. Nanavati. But some diehard fans, he says, may also feel mounting anxiety pre-game.
AQ collects your real-time vitals – including some 15 heart-rate readings an hour, taken on average every four minutes – from your Apple Watch throughout your day and applies its proprietary technology, based on proven research by top scientists, to determine your mental state at all times.
AQ’s new Super Bowl Fanxiety Tracker is its latest feature, designed to track an individual’s – or a group’s – anxiety around a specific live event, like the Super Bowl.
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Realtime Anxiety Relief
Symptoms of acute Super Bowl “fanxiety” include:
• Spiking heart rate
• Sweaty palms
• Rapid breathing
• Urge to cover your eyes and hide behind furniture
AQ not only tracks your anxiety/fanxiety levels in real time but also offers proven measures to help you lower your anxiety in real time.
These range from CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) exercises to mindfulness and meditations, guided training and nature sounds.
If your fanxiety is acute, AQ’s special “SOS Library” also suggests over a dozen short exercises for immediate stress relief.
Psychologist’s Top Four Super Bowl Stress Busters
Dr. Nanavati draws on these and other sources to prescribe his four top stress busters for stressed-out Super Bowl fans:
• Earlobe Massage: The technique of massaging your own ear lobes, long used in Chinese medicine, immediately slows the heart rate and reduces anxiety – due to a nerve in the ear lobe (the vagus nerve) that connects directly to the heart, to slow its rate.
• Alternate Nostril Breathing: This simple breathing exercise lowers heart-rate, stress and anxiety – and syncs the two hemispheres of the brain.
• Feet Up Against A Wall: Make gravity your friend with this simple pose, by lying on your back and resting your feet up against a wall, at right angles to your upper body, while slowly breathing in and out. This slows the heart, calms the nerves and relieves anxiety.
• Downward Facing Dog: This classic yoga pose – which involves stretching forward onto your hands, with your head lowered and your body in an inverted V-shape – helps relieve tension from the neck and back and mimic the effect of many anxiety drugs by boosting the flow of blood to the brain, helping to relieve stress and anxiety.
It has the added advantage of making it hard to watch the game at the same time – and, indeed, is perfect for performing while hiding behind the furniture.
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NOTES FOR EDITORS
Users currently need an Apple Watch to use AQ but will soon be able to use any smartwatch. All user data remains anonymous and is never shared with or sold to advertisers or any other third party.
ABOUT AQ:
AQ is the world’s first app that tracks and measures your anxiety and mental health in real time – and provides targeted, real-time advice and treatments to manage your anxiety and improve your mental health and performance. Created by Mindwell Labs, AQ is your personal mental health coach, in your pocket. AQ’s patent-pending proprietary technology and AI analyze your vitals collected by your Apple Watch in real-time throughout the day to help you understand what in your life makes you anxious or calm. AQ uses your mental health profile to provide you with personalized care based on your specific needs. You currently need an Apple Watch to use AQ but will soon be able to use any smartwatch.
AQ is available for free download on the App Store; try the premium version, with full personalization and all features, totally free for 14 days; pay $39.99/year or $4.99/month afterwards.
Contact: press@theaqapp.com
