Garmin Forerunner 935 increases the stress level !

philipshambrook agreed

There seems to be a huge focus in these forums on accuracy of a number of metrics provided by devices. In many cases these metrics are simply not gathered under conditions that will enable them to be accurate. Calories seems to be another that people expect to be accurate when this is difficult to accurately assess even under controlled laboratory conditions.

In respect of Stress level which uses HRV this is gathered by the Optical HRM which in itself varies wildly in accuracy from person to person and depending upon what they are doing at any given time. It is likely that if Garmin change the algorithm for the OHR that may positively impact some users and adversely impact others and I suspect that is what we are seeing in some of these cases.

I have been lucky in that my displayed stress levels have stayed relatively consistent through firmware upgrades and generally seem to fit with my training, activities, general health.

All the number tells me most of the time is what I already know - it may possibly be of use to warn me that I am overtraining or I have other factors (illness or other external factors) that are affecting me but with current technology it will never be more than a rough guide

The stress guesstimate is not an instant indicator. It's guesstimated on the variation in inter-beat time of each heart beat. That is, a heart rate of 60bpm does not mean each beat is exactly 1 second apart; it varies. According to some research, the difference in variation can indicate fitness state and/or stress level. So, just because you are sitting down, relaxing, you may have imposed stress on your body through exercise or other lifestyle factors earlier. Thus it might take some time for your physiological stress to return to 'normal' levels; irrespective of how you might feel mentally.

This is a useful read - http://www.sweetwaterhrv.com/documen...ressandhrv.pdf

Bear in mind too, that trying to assess HRV from optical HR is not the best way to achieve a meaningful result, further muddying the outcome. The best way to assess HRV is by analysis of the electrical signals generated by each heart beat, ie, from a strap or other means of detecting the signal.

So Philip, with the information that you have given us, and with the information currently being recorded by my watch, I should be due four weeks off work from serious stress.

I will show my doctor my Garmin stats and I suspect he will instantly sign me off work. If obviously four weeks in bed and my stress stats are still high, then obviously we can assume that there is a problem with all day stress recording.

I will let you know how I get on.

… with the information currently being recorded by my watch, I should be due four weeks off work from serious stress.

I will show my doctor my Garmin stats and I suspect he will instantly sign me off work.

The statements published by Garmin at the following URLs:

• http://www.garmin.com/en-AU/legal/atdisclaimer
  
• http://www.garmin.com/en-CA/legal/atdisclaimer
  
• http://www.garmin.com/en-GB/legal/atdisclaimer
  
• http://www.garmin.com/en-US/legal/atdisclaimer
  

all say:
Garmin activity trackers are not medical devices, and the data provided by them is not intended to be utilized for medical purposes and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

By all means, show your doctor, but it's up to him/her to decide using professional judgment whether you're unfit for work and due time off from serious stress; your opinion (and sarcasm) has no standing with anyone in that regard.

I will show my doctor my Garmin stats and I suspect he will instantly sign me off work. If obviously four weeks in bed and my stress stats are still high, then obviously we can assume that there is a problem with all day stress recording.

You could buy a drug, called "Vivoactive". That would normalise your stress level instantly, see very first post at this thread. ;)

ASmugDill - Could you not detect my sense of irony in my post! I was far from serious. Just trying to make a light hearted comment in amongst all this Garmin misery. :)

@jeholleyonetel.com: I thought you were being sarcastic, as if there were a valid reason for you as a consumer/customer to expect a device in Garmin's range of wearables to be sufficiently accurate and reliable to warrant being taken credibly or seriously by medical personnel (in their professional work), and expressing disdain because in reality it isn't (and never purported to be) such. So, yes, I detected irony, but the key purpose of my post was to mirror the disdain, because nobody ought to have assumed the consumer-grade device they have to be that accurate or trusted, if they've bothered to read the disclaimers or have a reality check.

Energy expenditure accounting, wrist heart rate reporting, and step counting on the Garmin devices are not direct measurements to begin with, but only estimations using circumstantial data. Metrics such as Training Status and Stress Level are even less credible by their very nature because they purport to convey insight from something not directly measured.

as if there were a valid reason for you as a consumer/customer to expect a device in Garmin's range of wearables to be sufficiently accurate and reliable.

In the apple community there are some cases documented where the watch saved some ones life.

http://bgr.com/2017/10/16/apple-watc...ved-mans-life/
https://globalnews.ca/news/3890759/a...artbeat-study/

So yes, it may be a good idea to see a doctor, if the watch is showing strange data e.g. high stress data. Provided that the watch is showing meaningful data and not junk data.

@Chris_Ffm: Notwithstanding the burden of a visit to the clinic or medical practice, I wholeheartedly agree that it may be a good idea to see a doctor if the device user thinks (or feels, or imagines) something is amiss or awry with his bodily functions, irrespective of how he was informed or alerted. My issue is with consumers who believe spending a few hundred dollars on a consumer-grade lifestyle gadget means they're entitled to accurate diagnoses (with clinical value and credibility) and ‘actionable’ insights (to trigger by-the-book response plans without engaging suitably qualified guidance, e.g. from a doctor or an athletic coach), reliably and on-demand around the clock, as a low-burden (in terms of time, expense and inconvenience) substitute for booking and obtaining professional services. I think jeholleyonetel.com's post (with “irony” and all) just exemplifies and dramatises that issue to the point of using the doctor's professional credentials to merely give approval and credibility to the device user's conclusions preformed prior to the visit.

After the update to 8.0 I also had an issue with high stress level. First I thougt it was caused by a cold. But I also had the very abnormal behavior that my stresslevel was even increasing during meditation. So I did an factory reset today and that seemed to have solved the problem. No I see again more blue resting graphics.
Happy again.