Interesting responses. Polyfool you had a few questions regarding the test, possibly intended to prove me wrong, but in any case I will answer them. As far as parents coming down hard on me, you're absolutely right. My parents are the type that set big consequences, so you would think that I would be fearful. I was slightly nervous, because I could be facing a week of grounding or lose my car for awhile, but that's no big deal at all compared to your life's career being at stake. And another reason why I was not nervous is because I prepared well for the test, so I was confident that I could pass. I have a question about your 35 second break between sets of questions during your test--how did you know the amount of time that had elapsed? Did your examiner time exactly 35 seconds between sets and tell you he was doing that? After each set, he said "you are now finished this phase of the set, please refrain from moving for the next 35 seconds." After the 35 seconds we would move on to the next set of questions. Also, even though your technique seems to have worked like a charm, wouldn't it have been better to concentrate on augmenting your responses to the control questions, instead of focusing so much on trying to change your reactions to the relevants? I've never heard advice such as yours. If you spent hours reading this site, what made you decide to come up with your own technique? Well if you read my original post, you will see that I did, infact, augment my responses to the control questions. And trying to calm my reactions to the relevant questions just seems like common sense, right? So I wouldn't really consider that my own technique. The whole thing about counting backwards by seven's I read in TLBTLD on page 148. Whats funny about it though is he recommends the counting to augment the response to control questions, but I actually found that it helped more to calm my reactions. So I used it for the opposite effect, but it still worked very effectively. You sound like one gutsy kid, I'm surprised you didn't have the nerve to stand up to your parents and tell them the truth about your experience with alcohol and drugs. If I did that, then I would never be able to say that I beat the polygraph. I liked the challange. And speaking of your parents, didn't they know that you only got one hour of sleep the night before the test? That would seem like a dead give away that you had something to hide from them. For someone who wasn't worried about the test, that's not a lot of sleep. No, they did not know that I stayed up the night before. I spent the night reviewing TLBTLD, and also defrosting my freezer. (Not that that really matters) Innocence faded--seems a very interesting name choice for a sixteen year old kid. You seem so bright and your language skills mature--I'm surprised that someone as wise as you would have given into peer pressure regarding drug and alcohol use. You seem way too smart for that. Well, Innocence Faded is actually the name of a favorite Dream Theater song of mine. I don't let peer pressure affect me, I make choices on my own. I made the choice to use drugs and alcohol, and I made the choice to stop. Sure, I enjoy a few beers every now and then, but I keep it under control. And I haven't touched marijuana in months. It kind of seems like parents who would go to all that trouble and expense for a poly, would go to that trouble and expense for a pee test or hair sample or a personal possession search. Well my parents are quite dumb. They have never given me a drug test in my life. They did, however, purchase a breathalyzer right before the polygraph. What exactly is it you won? The right to screw up your life? My parents feel like they can trust me, and that makes them happy. The months before the polygraph, my relationship with my parents was crap. We would rarely talk about anything, and when we did talk it was just an argument. They would always accuse me of stuff even when they had no evidence. It was just a bad situation. Now, my relationship with my parents has never been better. They trust me, and they actually hold conversations with me, instead of making accusations. I think the results of the polygraph have helped me and my family quite a bit, and now I have a great story to tell people.
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