Psychophysiological stress profile

Determining a patient's psychophysiological stress reaction stands at the beginning of every biofeedback treatment. Psychophysiological stress testing is a way of assessing the client's individual way of reacting to stress as well as determining the cause of various psychophysiological disorders.

Bodily functions can both show signs of heightened or diminished activity and thus contribute to psychophysiological malfunction. For example, chronically increased neuromuscular activity can lead to pain in those parts of the body. Chronically low hand temperature can be associated with greater difficulties in relaxation or falling asleep.

In addition, the individual style of reacting to various forms of stress and the individual speed of recovery can be observed. Sometimes, this style of psychophysiological reactivity can be a cause of psychophysiological complaints.