Statistical studies have shown that polygraph examiners’ services are becoming increasingly popular. It’s becoming difficult to find an alternative method for obtaining reliable data when uncovering corruption and embezzlement in various organizations, expanding the evidence base during criminal investigations, and establishing the truth in personal and domestic disputes.
However, such testing is not always feasible for certain categories of respondents. Due to a number of contraindications, this procedure cannot be performed due to a person’s health condition or other circumstances.
What could be an obstacle to passing the lie detector test?
Only a confirmed normal psycho-emotional and physical condition of the respondent without any deviations can guarantee admission to testing. Practicing specialists know that polygraph services even the most highly qualified specialists may not be able to provide an objective assessment of the answers due to distortion of the results caused by various diseases that do not tolerate stress.
Negative consequences can be avoided provided that the criteria prohibiting passing a polygraph are taken into account:
- For various cardiovascular diseases and pathologies. This applies equally to hypertension, chronic arrhythmia, and other acute forms. This list also includes people who have had heart attacks or recent strokes. Any stress associated with testing with a detector significantly increases the likelihood of a recurrence;
- All types of mental disorders and diagnosed psychological illnesses, high anxiety, symptoms of clinical depression, and PTSD are also strong arguments against polygraph testing. Particularly severe illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, deserve special mention. All of these situations are characterized by a severe distortion of a person’s response to everything around them.
- A separate category is for those prone to epileptic seizures, those who have suffered brain injuries, or those with other neurological disorders. The detector’s specific function is to monitor and record the nervous system’s activity. In these cases, there is a risk of misinterpretation of the obtained results;
- A lie detector test is strictly not recommended for those with respiratory diseases, especially asthma. The test method, along with other parameters, includes recording respiratory rate, which is likely to change during the polygraph examination. Respiratory diseases preclude the use of this characteristic for a comprehensive analysis.
Pregnant women may also undergo polygraph testing with significant restrictions. The situation here is not straightforward, but many factors associated with pregnancy must be taken into account. Much depends on the specific psychological and physical conditions inherent to each stage of pregnancy and the doctor’s assessment of each individual case.
Additional contraindications to polygraph testing
It is worth mentioning the potential danger of such a survey in the presence of such factors:
- Chronic use of potent medications, especially sedative antidepressants. These substances have a strong effect on the nervous system, which carries the risk of biased polygraph testing;
- severe physical exhaustion and chronic sleep deprivation can distort the response to the questions asked and the analysis will not be carried out accurately enough;
- A state of alcoholic intoxication of any degree or being in the hangover stage changes the natural motor skills of movements, speech, reflexes and makes the test a completely unproductive process;
- The fact of refusal of polygraph examiner services in case of drug use does not require a detailed explanation.
There are also several categories of people for whom this procedure is strictly contraindicated. Only certain exceptions are permitted under specific conditions.
Who should not undergo a polygraph test:
- everyone who is under 14 years of age;
- people with mental disabilities;
- persons diagnosed with visual and hearing impairments.
Beyond the ethical aspect of such cases, there’s also a purely professional aspect. Anyone who falls into such groups will not receive a sufficiently objective test result when receiving polygraph examination services.
But we should not forget about such a danger as an increased risk of harm to the human body and psyche.