The psycho-emotional state of a person is one of the most important factors for the normal functioning of all physical systems. Various disorders caused by nervous or emotional stress, a number of dangerous diseases can develop. These include various diseases of the cardiovascular system, which are the main cause of premature death of the world population (approximately 29% of death causes the total world population according to WHO). The greatest danger is the probability of unnoticeable occurrence of such dangerous conditions and the complexity of impartially diagnosis, revealing them.
At this moment there is quite a large number of psychological methods of determining the instability of the psycho-emotional state. This article analyzes the technical methods of diagnosis of psychosomatic diseases.
The most popular method now is the assessment of the psycho-emotional state using pulsometry coupled with photoplethysmography (the latter one calculates the change in the volume of arterial blood through fluctuations of the absorption of light caused by the pulsation of arterioles). This method has gained popularity due to its ease in implementation in modern gadgets, and therefore its availability to all segments of the population. A huge number of companies use heart rate readings to assess both the physical and psychological state of the user, which is practical for people who are fond of sports, or just care about their health. Based on this data stresslevels monitoring is already available on modern smartphones.
The obvious disadvantage of this method is a high percentage of errors due to the fact that the data obtained is based only on the pulse readings, which is not suitable for people with heart rate variability deviations, and there is no accounting for the influence of various external stimuli on the condition of the body, which significantly reduce the accuracy of the data obtained.
Another method that is gaining general popularity, but is already known to the scientific and medical community, is the fere method, based on measurements of electric conductivity in the palm of the hand. In picture [1] you can see the results of measurements of skin-galvanic reactions in relation to different sorts of psycho emotional states of a person.
Pic. 1. An example of recording the electric resistance of research objects [1]
This method has shown its effectiveness, but it also has its drawbacks - it is necessary to constantly pass a weak electric current through a person and for mobile registration of electric skin conductivity, the points located on the palm of a person are not convenient enough because of the large number of devices needed. Therefore it makes sense to use the Tarkhanov method which uses measuring points on the wrist.
Another very promising direction for the study of psychosomatic abnormalities in the human body is KME, shown in [2]. KME is a universal system, helping professionals with their decision-making by choosing the right approach according to each person's individual needs. KME was designed for the use in health centers as well as by private practitioners. It is a highly sensitive, new generation biofeedback system, Improving health and quality of life. KME provides real-time definition, differentiation, and categorization of multiple processes from the cellular-molecular level to organ systems to whole body.
Despite the fact that this method is already used by many private clinics, its effectiveness has not been proven, and the method is only based on the analysis of average diseases corresponding to the age and sex of the patient.
Based on the analysis of the selected methods, it can be concluded that the most effective method of assessing the psycho-emotional state of a person has not yet been developed. The best option for use in mobile monitoring systems of psycho-emotional stress is using of skin-galvanic reaction on the wrist by method of Tarkhanov.
Bibliographic list:
1. Strunin R. M. Biotechnical system for determining the psycho-emotional condition of a person / / international scientific research journal. 2016. No. 4 (46) Part 2. Pp. 190-193
2. www.cmeswiss.com