I know that if I'm ever sad, it only takes a few seconds of turning up the music and dancing around to make me feel better- but for some reason, I rarely think to actually DO that! But what if my ipod knew I was sad and turned itself on for me....
There are all sorts of ways to try and pull out of a funk, and I would love to extend my mindfulness pills experiment to try them. Positive Psychology preaches the power of PERMA: Positive Emotions, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment- using some of these concepts in combination with the signal created when you ingest a mindfulness pill and "track" your mood could prove powerful.
For example, when you take a pill to combat sadness, a facebook post could be generated signalling that it would go a long way to have someone send you a quick note. Even quick, easy responses could go a long way in helping to combat the blues.
Another problem with negative emotions is that its hard to come up with actionable items to help yourself in the moment- when I feel depressed, it becomes harder for me to decide to go out and take a walk, or call up a friend. If you used a pill to trigger a text or email to you with a specific task to carry out, you would have a specific, actionable item to do- a much less daunting task than trying to "feel better"
You could even use the other biometric sensors to see if you DID carry out the task texted to you (ie, if it said to dance to a song, if your accelerometer data did not indicate movement, it could send a new task. Or, if you did get up and move around, it could send a congratulatory text).
There are many more possibilities to use mindfulness pills as an empowering way to control negative emotions... what would you do?
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