A Phoenix startup is testing an electrical device to ease anxiety without the use of prescription drugs.

Nick Hool had overbearing nervousness when he was a competitive golfer. He couldn’t take anti-anxiety pills when he was playing.

“Those are illegal drugs in sports, and they’re also just not good for your health to begin with,” he said.

Hool has built what he calls the ‘P-57-ONE electrical nerve stimulator’ with his group, Hoolest Performance Technologies. The device targets the vagus nerve, which connects the brain to the body.

“We see drops in heart rate, drops in blood pressure, muscle tension, breathing rate — and just overall, it helps a person relax,” Hool said.

Users open and turn on the handheld device and place its electrodes on their necks.

Hool and his team developed electrodes that are dry and comfortable. They do not require any soaking of gels or saline.

“The material we have has current distribution properties that totally eliminate any hot spots,” he said. “You don’t get shocked when you use our electrodes.”

The anxiety relief from this device could last up to an hour. Hool is looking for testers for the P-57-ONE.

“We’re not overloading your body’s system with some drug that’s going to have lasting side effects,” he said. “All we’re doing is targeting a very specific response that your body already has inside of itself.”

Click here to sign up to be a tester for Hool’s nerve simulator.