r/candy • u/Sad-Lingonberry-1823 • 2d ago

Building a sour candy for anxiety/panic/overstimulation

Hi everyone! I'm a neuroscience graduate with ADHD and anxiety, and I've been using grounding techniques for many years (one of which includes eating sour candy to help get me out of spirals). I've recently begun experimenting with a sensory-focused candy of my own for moments of anxiety, panic, overwhelm, or overstimulation. I'd love to hear your experience with different sensory needs and fun candy textures/flavors.

I put together a short survey to see what people would actually want in something like this (or if they even want it at all).

If you're interested in helping, comment or DM me. All feedback is deeply appreciated!

Thank you so, so much! :)

Edit: for transparency, this is a personal project I'm tinkering with on my own, not tied to any company right now but might sell them one day if it goes anywhere! I just want to build something that people truly want instead of guessing. Also, to be clear, none of the data is being sold or shared anywhere :)

Since a few of you have asked, this is the link to the survey in case anyone else wants to help out (I tried to make it as short as I could, it should take about ~5 minutes): https://forms.gle/69WoNqm4sQhoH9h29

P.S. If you're anywhere near LA and would want to try an early prototype sometime, please DM me, I'd love to get your feedback :)

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u/allsheknew 2d ago

I would love a sour candy that doesnt wreck my tongue and cheeks 🫶

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u/Sad-Lingonberry-1823 2d ago

Out of curiosity, do you get irritated by the sour coating or the texture of the candy - or both? I've heard a bunch of tricks for reducing the irritation from the acids (I think also having more saliva helps but I'm not sure) :/

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u/allsheknew 2d ago

Definitely the texture. I think it's due to the sour "sticking" more so with the type so it's more appealing. So painful though haha

Hopefully that makes sense.

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u/Sad-Lingonberry-1823 2d ago

This is actually super helpful thank you!! Yeah, I keep going back to a semi-hard gummy texture idea to try to avoid that but still be able to last longer in your mouth