CONTENTS
To Get Started 1
Introduction 2
Operating Instructions 3
An Aid For Relaxing 5
How It Works 7
Anxiety Management 9
Different Models - Meter and Output 10
Changing the Batteries 11
Sensors 11
Maintenance 12
Guarantee 12
TO GET STARTED
Attach the sensors to two fingers, and click the Volume knob On and round some more. Turn the other Frequency knob until you get a sound. See how high and low the knob makes the pitch of the sound, and choose a comfortable tone in the middle of the range. See what happens when something surprises or alarms you. Now Read On!
INTRODUCTION
he Relaxometer is a unique modern version of a well-known and old scientific instrument - the Psycho-Galvanometer. It has been used in psychology and medicine since the early years of the twentieth century because it is one of the most sensitive indicators of emotional and psychological stress. One of the earliest users was Dr Carl Jung, and Dr Barbara Brown described it as A window on the mind. The first instruments used an early form of electric current indicator called a galvanometer and so the device itself was called a Psycho-galvanometer. Later designs used meters or pen recorders, but the Relaxometer was the first to use a sound of varying pitch as the indicator. Because sound is not directional and can be appreciated with your eyes closed it is particularly suitable for Biofeedback work, where relaxation is often the goal. Such instruments are sometime called GSR meters, for Galvanic Skin Response, or Skin Conductance Level meters. RELAXOMETER is a Registered Trade Mark of Aleph One Ltd. The Relaxometer is completely safe and harmless in all respects. You have a Year 2000 version developed from an older version. It is impossible to receive any kind of electric shock from it, or to suffer any kind of psychological or physiological damage. It works from four 1.5 Volt cells, and the total voltage of 6V available is less than that in the typical transistor radio battery. Like all Biofeedback instruments, it does not induce any trance or change in you; it merely provides additional information about yourself and your state of arousal or relaxation. It is not a Magic Box with special power over you. Any change has to come from within you, not from the instrument, so it is futile to use it if you don't care about what happens or don't pay attention to what it is telling you. It works by detecting changes in the electrical conductivity of the skin and translating them into changes in the pitch of the sound it makes. You are probably familiar with the way if you panic you may break into a sweat. When you do the conductivity of your skin increases a lot. Of course you don't need to know you are panicking because it is obvious. However changes of that sort are occurring all the time in every one of us; normally they are not obvious at all, because we do not actually sweat nor feel very aroused. The job of the Relaxometer is to make you aware of these changes, by translating them into changes in the pitch of the tone. When you hear the pitch rising you are becoming more aroused, and when you relax the pitch comes down. The Relaxometer was originally created by a research and development company with a long history of making and selling psychological instruments. In the past thirty years or so it has come to be used very widely by the general public, by clinical and health psychologists, by counsellors, teachers of stress management and people involved in industrial training, and by occupational therapists and physiotherapists. It is a powerful tool for learning what is happening inside you and so for learning to control your self. It is one of a series of Biofeedback instruments provided by Aleph One to help people control and regulate their internal states and so to improve their functioning as human beings. We would be happy to send you details of our other products, which include an instrument for controlling brain electrical activity (EEG), and Myoelectric instruments for training subtle control of muscle tension and relaxing specific muscle groups.
OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
Your hands should be clean, warm and free of hand cream
If your fingers are very sweaty wipe them dry
The room should be comfortably warm
One by one, put a silver sensor pad in contact with the whorls of a different fingertip and wind the Velcro round the finger to hold the pad in place. It is usually convenient to work with fingers of the same hand, though results can be obtained using different hands or different parts of the body. If you want the sensors not to be seen you can put them on the inside of the wrists or on the inside of the upper arm just below the armpit. Avoid letting the silver parts of the two sensors touch, as this causes the instrument to scream (but does no harm). The sensors should be firm enough not to slip off, but not so tight that the fingers throb or feel uncomfortable. They should not be used on one pair of fingers for more than twenty or thirty minutes, especially in warm conditions, as sweat may accumulate under them and reduce responsiveness. In a longer session you may want to change fingers. Click on the Volume control and turn it about half way. Turn the Frequency control to give a continuous tone (not just clicks). It will be most sensitive when the tone is in the middle of the range - neither a screech nor a buzz. If your hands are very moist and you get a high tone even with the Frequency knob just turned on, then move the sensor pads around your fingers so they cover part of the finger nail. If you get no sound at any position of the frequency control, see that the Volume control is turned well clockwise. If it is still silent take one sensor off and touch the silver part to the silver part of the other sensor for a moment. When the instrument is functioning correctly this will produce a high-pitched tone. If you still get no sound change the batteries (as instructed below). If you still get no sound with fresh batteries turn the Frequency control fully clockwise, put the sensors on more tightly, and press them against the fingertips. If this produces little or no sound, you are one of a tiny minority of people whose skin is too dry to work the Relaxometer - get in touch with us. Sit, stand or lie quietly with your hand resting comfortably on your knees, a table or the arm of a chair. The sensors should touch your fingers but nothing of metal. Keep your hand and fingers fairly still, as moving them can alter the pressure of contact of the sensors and upset the readings. (Try this and see just how much change does occur when you make a fist, or flex or fidget your fingers.) The pitch of the tone will rise and fall as your internal state changes. A rising pitch shows that you are becoming more aroused, and a falling pitch tells you that you are relaxing.
AN AID FOR RELAXING
Connect the Relaxometer sensors to your fingertips and sit or lie quietly in a warm room. Adjust the Frequency knob so that the pitch is towards the high end of the range, but not irritatingly high. As you relax the pitch will decrease; when the sound becomes a low growl reset the Frequency knob to raise the pitch of the tone again. To relax, simply listen to the pitch of the sound and work to make it as low as possible. The lower the pitch the more relaxed you are. Each time it drops to a growl turn the Frequency knob to get a continuous tone, until the sound is as low as you can get it. Do not struggle to relax, but use the tone as a guide to help you know when you are doing it right. You may find that, when you do get a satisfying drop in the pitch of the tone, you notice this, and the pitch promptly goes up because you notice it. That is all right; it is just the way you work. Once you have noticed it, you can go on relaxing further. With this sensitive instrument you will soon reach a level of relaxation where the most minute activities, tensions or worrying thoughts will be revealed by a temporary rise in pitch of the sound. As you listen you will find that the pitch does not always drop smoothly, but sometimes rises for a while. The may be because of an external stimulus such as noise or a person coming near you. Or it may be because of an internal stimulus such as a thought crossing your mind, about a person, or a worry, or even about how you are getting on with the Relaxometer. Your breathing too will affect the tone, especially if you take deep breaths. Try to breathe in a smooth steady way. See what sorts of thing produce large responses; if they are just thoughts, then consider why these thoughts should matter so much. You can only use the Relaxometer for about 20 minutes without changing the sensors to different fingers, but that is usually enough to reach a very relaxed state. You may want to use the instrument two or three times a day - practice makes perfect, just as with learning any other physical or mental skill. It will probably take you a few days to learn how to relax with the instrument, and you will notice differences from day to day in how you respond. Some of these differences may have to do with outside conditions, like temperature and humidity. The instrument detects changes in skin moisture, so warm or damp weather will affect it. Hand creams are designed to coat the skin with oil or wax and keep it moist, so they too can interfere with the instrument. There is more difference between one person and another than there is in one person over varying conditions. For these reasons you should not use the Relaxometer to compare one person with another. Some people have dry skin and some have moist skin; if they are in exactly the same state of arousal they will give different readings on the Relaxometer, and so you cannot say I am more relaxed than you, or He is more aroused than she is. The instrument will tell you about changes in the level of arousal of the person using it during one session. If your working environment does remain the same, you will be able to learn to make some useful observations about changes from one session to another, but the observations you make are not as dependable as those within one session. You might like to take the Relaxometer to work so that you can use it for a few minutes during the day when problems pile up, or when you have an important meeting coming and you want to be as well prepared as possible. Many situations in life today can cause unnecessary arousal; when you have a little experience in using the Relaxometer you can try using it when driving a car, or travelling, or watching television. If you become tense, use what you have learned to relax quickly and completely and get comfortable again. The aim, of course, is not always to be super-relaxed like a rag doll but to have control over what happens in your body. Then you can be deeply relaxed when you want to be, yet alert and poised for action when that is required. Besides its use as a general aid to relaxation, the Relaxometer has found many particular uses. Amongst them are: Reducing high blood pressure Helping stutterers overcome their anxiety about stuttering Showing the effects of breathing patterns in ante-natal classes Illuminating interpersonal interactions in groups Helping insomnia and treating many kinds of phobias and anxiety states If you need more information about particular applications such as these please let us know and we shall try to help.
HOW IT WORKS
If you panic you sweat all over, and the sweat increases the electrical conductivity of your skin. If you become mildly excited there are changes in your skin and sweat glands without actual sweating. You may not be aware of these, but the Relaxometer picks them up and translates them into changes in the pitch of the tone. It does so by applying a tiny voltage to the fingers (you can't feel it) and measuring the current which flows. Almost all the resistance to the current is in the skin, while the inside of your body conducts electricity easily. Actual sweating, as well as the changes in the sweat glands which occur before sweat appears, increase the conductivity of the skin and so increase the current through the circuit of the Relaxometer. You do not generate the sound inside your body; it is produced by the Relaxometer and only modified by what happens inside you. It takes a moment for sweat glands to dilate, and so these changes do not occur instantaneously; typically if you are startled by a sudden loud noise the Relaxometer tone will rise after a half to one second. The part of the nervous system which controls the sweat glands is called the sympathetic nervous system, and it also causes the pupils of your eyes to dilate, the heart to speed up and more blood to flow to the muscles, and it is associated with an increase in secretion of the hormone adrenalin. Throughout our life the nervous system is constantly active. When we are alert, tense, excited, sexually aroused or under stress, or when we have strong feelings about someone or something, the sympathetic nervous system becomes more active. Conversely when we are tired, relaxed or calm the sympathetic nervous system is less active. Almost any stressor or stimulus will produce a reaction, shown as a rise in the pitch of the tone from the Relaxometer, although the user may seem outwardly calm and unmoved. A sudden noise such as a handclap, a poke in the back, a slight pinch, a strong smell or an embarrassing or sensitive question or a personal remark will usually provoke a reaction. So will certain physical actions, such as taking one or two deep breaths, or becoming sexually aroused. And a purely internal stimulus, such as thinking about an emotive subject, will produce a response which, from the outside, cannot be distinguished from the response due to an external stimulus. You will see that you cannot therefore tell which emotion is causing an increase in the pitch of the Relaxometer tone; any one or more of several will have the same effect. It is therefore necessary to be careful about interpreting the Relaxometer sounds. The person connected to the instrument is the one most likely to be able to say what has caused a change in the tone, particularly if they have some experience with it and are self-aware. This is not to say you cannot be surprised; changes may occur in response to things or events which seemed to you to be unimportant. For example you will find that it can show how your arousal changes in the course of a conversation, even one which does not seem very important to you. Pay attention to these signs and you will learn something about yourself. It is easiest to see the connection between things which arouse you and the changes in pitch when you are in a peaceful relaxed situation and there are not many things happening. It is useful and interesting to learn what sorts of changes occur in response to what sorts of events happening, before trying to use it for more specialised tasks. Try it on your friends and family, and see how different people respond. Try it on yourself in different situations - driving, at work, watching television, and so on - and see what makes you respond.
ANXIETY MANAGEMENT
The methods of Anxiety Management can be applied to any recurrent psychologically stressful situation. The idea is not so much to eliminate the anxiety, but to arm yourself with ways to cope with the anxiety and so to face the situation without panic. First practise using the Relaxometer in the most peaceful possible situation until you become used to relaxing when you want to and to using the tone to guide your relaxation. Then create for yourself a particularly peaceful and relaxing scene which you will come back to repeatedly. Many people like to imagine a quiet country scene, perhaps lying under a tree fanned by a warm and fragrant summer breeze, but you can make up your own. If you prefer, think of loafing in a warm bath or in front of an open fire, or sunning yourself on a beach beside lapping waves. In any case fill your visualisation with as much detail as possible to make it seem very real to you. Concentrate on visualising this scene until you are very calm and peaceful, and the Relaxometer tone is down to a buzz. Then think about the stressful situation, but as soon as the pitch of the tone rises, stop doing so and shift your attention back to the relaxing scene. This will bring the pitch down, so that you can return the stressful situation. Repeat this alternation, and as you do so you will find you become less upset by the stressor. Gradually increase the detail and intensity of the visualisation of the stressful situation, but always without letting yourself get upset or lose control. Get further into the situation little by little, always backing off into the peaceful scene before you become uncomfortable. With practice and repetition you will find you can face in your imagination scenes which at first seemed quite terrifying. When you feel some confidence, try to do the same thing using real situations, but setting them up so that you can back off out of them if you want to. Continue to use the Relaxometer to help you stay relaxed and in control even as you move into stressful situations. If you want to be told what to do, rather than learning with the aid of the Relaxometer, you may find useful Dr Sharpe's Compact Disc recording titled: RELAX AND ENJOY IT This extremely popular recording from Aleph One provides verbal instructions about tensing and relaxing the muscles in each part of the body in turn; if you follow the instructions you end up relaxed, and you cannot be relaxed and anxious at the same time. It may suit you if your reaction to stress is to tense up your muscles. This becomes painful if you do it often, and so muscular relaxation is useful in such cases. Another approach to muscular relaxation is to use a Muscle Biofeedback instrument, or Myo-Electric instrument. Ask Aleph One for details of these.
DIFFERENT MODELS OF RELAXOMETER
There are two models of the Relaxometer, Model S and Model Q. Both have a loudspeaker and a socket for headphones; these help you to concentrate on the tone and use the instrument without disturbing those around you. The Model Q has in addition a meter, giving visual feedback and some capacity for quantitative measurement. Below it is a switch marked Sensitivity. If this is set to High then very small changes in arousal will be visible on the meter, but a large change will send the needle to one end of the scale. If it is set to Low then bigger changes can be observed on the meter. It also has voltage output socket providing a Voltage from about 0 to 2, proportional to the pitch of the tone, and to the meter reading, which can be passed to a large external meter. Do not connect the Relaxometer to any meter or equipment operated from the main power supply, because of the potential safety hazard. Another smaller instrument, the GSR2, is also available; this fits in the palm of you hand and has sensor plates on the surface of its curved case. Ask us for details.
CHANGING THE BATTERIES
As the batteries weaken the pitch of the tone will fall, other things being equal. When the instrument will not give a suitable tone slide out the black drawer from the case, remove the four cells and put in fresh ones. They are 1.5V cells, chosen to be available throughout the world and usually called AA cells. You can use rechargeable cells or alkaline cells if you want, but otherwise use the cheapest available ones. Do not leave expired cells in the instrument, as they corrode and can damage it. It is wise to remove them if you will not be using the instrument for more than a month or so. No claims under the Guarantee can be considered if they are due to battery cell leakage.
SENSORS
Many years of experience have shown that the Relaxometer is a very rugged and reliable instrument indeed. Almost the only failures which occur are in the sensors. The price of using these extremely convenient metallised Velcro sensors is that the silver coating is very thin and eventually wears off. This occurs gradually, and causes an increase in the resistance of the sensors themselves, which leads to difficulty in getting a reading from people with a dry skin. The sensors lose their metallic look and the nylon underneath shows through, and then it is necessary to replace them. New sets of sensors with leads are available from Aleph One Ltd at a reasonable price. They can be fitted by anyone who can use a soldering iron, or we can install them for you for a small extra charge. Never use any jelly or cream with the Relaxometer sensors, as it will probably corrode them and interfere with its use.
MAINTENANCE
The Relaxometer needs very little maintenance. You can wipe the case clean with a damp cloth or an alcohol wipe. Please do not use Trichloro-ethylene or other dry-cleaning or spot-removing fluids, as they dissolve the case. Maintenance of Sensors is discussed above.
GUARANTEE
The Relaxometer has been designed to give years of trouble-free service. It has been carefully checked before despatch, and it is guaranteed against defects in materials or workmanship for a period of twelve months from the date of sale, provided it shows no evidence of tampering or abuse. No other guarantee is made or implied. We are happy to supply sensors and to service instruments after the expiration of the Guarantee and can provide an estimate if you wish.
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