unresponsive SLC

[lesas]

Hello all,
I have a client whose SCL is very flat. Has anyone else seen this before? What factors impact this ... medications? age? genetics? past trauma? Where might I find articles / information about this? Let me know! Thanks,
~Lesa S.

[yuval oded]

Hello Lesa,

All the points you mentioned may explain flat SCL. Other points may be: dry hands due to lack of fluids in the body (not drinking enough), sometimes even a big humus meal may flatten scl.

A good article to read is this one:
GSR Biofeedback in Psychotherapy (Toomim M. & Toomim H.). It is free online if you type:
Psychophysiology today – the magazine for mind-body medicine © by BFE 3
Vol. 2 - Issue 1/2006

A quote from this article:
A paradoxical flatness or drop in skin conductance, especially in the context of obvious emotional distress, indicates deeply repressed material is coming to awareness and that the individual is strongly resisting. An essential condition of relevance is that the GSR reactivity pattern closely follows the material at hand. So long as the emotionally arousing material is foreground, the tone continues to stay high or go higher, or it maintains its paradoxical flatness until a breakthrough in awareness occurs, at which point it rises precipitously.

You can find more information on SCL in Erik Peper's Biofeedback Mastery:
https://www.amazon.com/Biofeedback-Mast ... XV2Z1SVDWZ
or Inna Khazans book:
https://www.amazon.com/Clinical-Handboo ... 1119993717

[stress-freeliving]

Lesa, Dr. Oded,
Thank you for the thought-provoking question and the resources. I have found Dr. Peper's and Dr. Khazan's books to be immensely valuable.

From my advanced user perspective, I've found that SCL (along with HRV) can be low in responsiveness and maintain a very low flatline reading based on the level of fatigue, tiredness, and perhaps even partially to circadian rhythms.

From my own extensive use and self-training, I've noticed that very early in the morning, or late at night, I will have a very low SCL (.6 to .8) which basically will not move. Typically, it would be 1.2 to perhaps 2.4 depending on the stresses of the day, thought patterns of anxious events, or other known SCL responsive conditions. We also have variations based on known SCL moving efforts such as yawns, yipes or yells or muscle flexing which under the high fatigue/tiredness conditions change very little.

I typically look at events moving the SCL reading by 10-15% as a marker of emotional reactivity with the directed goal of using relaxation or re-framing thought control mechanisms to gradually revert back to the original baseline or move lower and then maintain a steady state reading. Of course, in the therapeutic work, a negative thought or emotional event can spike much higher than 15% and continue to move higher such that 100% change can occur, but for me, the self-user, this seems to be a good marker.

Therefore, fatigue, tiredness, sleep quality should also be added to the above reasons of dehydration, dry hands, poor circulation, etc... As a guess, it could also be a marker for depression.

Any clarification or further discussion is welcome.