Autonomic Changes and Stress Responses in Psychopathology

Abstract Background. Various studies have supported identifying specific physiological patterns that are indicative of psychopathological syndromes. Aims. The aim of this study is to verify the presence of different, consistent patterns in ANS arousal shown by five psychopathological groups (GAD, MDE, PAD, OCD, AN) and a control group. Method. Ninety outpatient subjects underwent a simultaneous registration of physiological parameters: skin conductance response (SCR), heart rate (HR), peripheral temperature (PT) and electromyography (EMG); registered in three consecutive phases: baseline, stress presentation, and recovery. Results. Results shows that SCR mean values are higher in GAD and PAD patients than in MDE and OCD patients. HR response is also higher in GAD than in the other groups, whereas OCD and MDE patients show a reduced profile of all four parameters. Conclusions. These results confirm the relevance of the psycho-physiological evaluation in a multidimensional diagnosis and support its use as a new differential diagnosis tool for certain psychopathological syndromes.