Eyes, a window to our mental health

Hyderabad: The eyes can tell how much stress a person is feeling and give a peak into their mental health, according to a study.

Researchers studied pupil dilation to understand the levels of stress that a person undergoes. This is a nascent study which was published in the International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction. The researchers expect to prepare computer models which will help them understand stress detection better. 

The researchers found that the size of the pupil can be taken as a measure for the mental state during the times of work stress and relaxation. 

Explaining the context of the research, Dr Kulashekar Rao, senior retired professor at Gandhi Medical College, said, “The widening of the pupils of the eyes is due to excitement, fear and stress. The anxiety levels can be measured but it will vary from person to person. There can’t be one bar set for all. These work only in controlled environments. To take them as a model for all would not work.”

The controlled environments in industries and work places where there are targets, like call centres and deadline-based work, are the only places where these can be put to test. 

Dr Swarup Mathur, senior ophthalmologist, said, “Work environments where the stress levels can be immediately addressed like call centres and offices where there is a controlled environment of managers who are constantly monitoring work can help to assess the workload on their employees. It can be used only as a first step indication but it can also have a lot of false positives.”

Measuring stress levels early and addressing them at the work place are some of the factors which are gaining importance in companies which have to monitor the well-being of their employees. These indications are being prepared so that the work environment can be relaxed and there is positive stress where work outputs are better.