Biofeedback-mediated stress management (BFSM) involves helping patients to visualize the reactions which their own bodies have to stressful situations (increased heart rate, increased skin conductance, increased muscle tension, decreased digital peripheral temperature, decreased heart rate variability) and then teaching them to control these reactions, using standard stress management and relaxation techniques, coupled with computerized physiological feedback. The feedback helps patients to understand that deep relaxation is helping their bodies as well as their minds. Several small studies of BFSM training in cancer populations have been successful at helping with side effects of chemotherapy and radiation, but the effects of BFSM on distress and quality of life (QOL), particularly in NSCLC patients, have not been studied.
