84% of the world population is really stressed. While some level of stress is normal, the demands of modern living has greatly increased stress levels around the world, affecting us physically, leading to chronic illnesses. Stress is now proven to be a contributing factor to 41 million preventable deaths worldwide.

But because stress has little to no signs or symptoms, most people see stress as just a commonly experienced “feeling”, leaving the dangerous issue ignored.

Stress by the numbers:

96% said they experience heavy stress

84% said they are stressed, BUT only 13% considered their stress unmanageable

59% would consult a doctor, get a diagnosis and access via mobile devices or computers

 * 2019 CIGNA 360 Well-being Survey

Working with Cigna doctors, we helped to create a first-of-its-kind technology that visualizes the physical signs of stress in the body and mind in real-time, using a ground-breaking composition of biometric data and digital art to educate the public about how stress not only affects us emotionally, but physically too.

Inspired by natural elements like smoke and water, the style of each visualization ebbed and flowed, mimicking how stress constantly shifts across the day and, therefore, across the body. Each individual’s real-time stress level affected the colour, turbulence and effects of their portraits.

Helping people see their own stress levels, and take action.

The stress visualizations were rolled out as a series of digital experiences for the B2B and B2C audiences across multiple markets (APAC, UK, US, ME, Africa). To allow more users to see their own stress, we created Facebook chatbots, with content contextualized to local audiences and segments across markets. The chatbot has the ability to assess users’ stress levels using a clinically-approved stress questionnaire, and depending on the users’ input, generates each user’s stress results and bespoke stress visualizations, and leads them to where they can create a custom Stress Care Plan.

Results that made a difference