Chapter 17. Well-Being

WB.36: Deep Dive – Biofeedback for Stress Management

Approximate reading time: 2 minutes

A man sits with his eyes closed and four sensors attached to his forehead.
Figure SUP WB.13. Biofeedback. Biofeedback can be an effective way to learn to relax and reduce stress. 

Another technique to combat stress, biofeedback, was developed by Gary Schwartz at Harvard University in the early 1970s. Biofeedback is a technique that uses electronic equipment to measure a person’s neuromuscular and autonomic activity. Neuromuscular activity refers to the functioning of muscles and the nerves that control them, while autonomic activity relates to the part of the nervous system that controls involuntary bodily functions like heart rate and digestion. Feedback is provided in the form of visual or auditory signals. The main assumption of this approach is that providing biofeedback enables the individual to develop strategies for gaining voluntary control over these normally involuntary bodily processes (Schwartz & Schwartz, 1995). It has been applied successfully with individuals experiencing tension headaches, high blood pressure, asthma, and phobias (Stein, 2001).

Image Attributions

Figure SUP WB.13. Biofeedback by Rachel Lu is licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA license.

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Introduction to Psychology: Supplemental Readings and Resources Copyright © 2024 by Jessica Motherwell McFarlane is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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