Meghan’s got one. Gwynnie, too. But should YOU get a stress-busting wrist patch?

It costs $4 and messes with your head (in a good way) to hack your brain’s natural stress responses and calm you down. That’s what the Duchess of Sussex seems to believe. But does the NuCalm ‘processing disc’ really work? Olivia Petter investigates

Meghan Markle, who has been spotted using products by NuCalm that purport to slow the beta frequencies of your brain (iStock/NuCalm/Getty Images)

Feeling a bit worn out? Wondering why you feel so stressed all of the time? Can’t remember the last time you had a full night’s sleep? The solution might be easier than you think. Forget about yoga and mindfulness, all you need is a $4 patch to pop onto your wrist. That’s apparently the solution to life’s troubles if you’re the Duchess of Sussex, who made headlines earlier this week after being photographed wearing a small blue disc on her inner left wrist that promises to reduce stress using “neuroacoustics”.

The device, made by American company NuCalm, connects to a smartphone app and purports to slow the beta frequencies in your brain, subsequently reducing stress levels. By using headphones, users can choose one of four programmes to listen to that are designed to slow brain wave function and “naturally guide your brain to different frequency states on demand” via “complex physics, mathematics, and algorithms built into a software that lies beneath music”. Got that?

Meghan hasn’t spoken about the device but her support has already served as a major boost for NuCalm. “We’ve seen a major spike in sales, website traffic, and social media engagement in less than 24 hours of the news story breaking,” NuCalm’s CEO Jim Poole told Hello. “I always enjoy seeing people use the NuCalm biosignal processing discs because it means they are making time and effort to take care of themselves.”