Hi,

First of all I'd like to thank the people who run this site for doing so, it really does make a difference!

I'd like to share my story with you, if I may:

I'm 20 years old and not a citizen of the U.S, and about 1.5 years ago I was going through a screening process for a very important military position. The screening process lasts for about a year, during which you get called to various professional/psychological tests and interviews which culminate in a polygraph examination. It was a tough year, but I made it... atleast I thought I did.
When I got the invitation to the polygraph examination I was very nervous because I knew that my future depended on it. I've developed many hopes and dreams around this military position, so naturally I was very nervous.

When I got to the company that does these tests I was very impressed by the building. The place screamed of high-tech because it was where many big high-tech companies are located.
The session was in a very small room, I started off by telling the examiner how stressed I am, and he re-assured me that there's nothing to be afraid of, unless I have something to hide. (That didn't really reassure me...)

The examiner asked me various questions about my past, such as whether I've commited computer crimes before (I admitted this in a perliminary security screening and signed the appropriate papers promising that I will not commit any of that again. Mind you, this happens to most people that go through this process because teenagers tend to do silly things). After getting this kind of information on me, most of his questions were phrased in the form of "Beside what you've disclosed did you ever...?". The test took a long time, I was tired, thirsty and had a headache. 
When the test was over, he went out and after about 10 minutes he came back with the results and said that I was deceptive on the prior crimes and drug questions. I was devastated becuase I knew I was telling the truth. 
He brought me a print-out which he said was xerox copy of a real newspaper article that talked about high-ranking military officials' drug use in the past and how the military doesn't mind what you've done in the past as long as you don't do it while in service. 
It was probably his attempt to fish for some response out of me, but all I kept saying was that I've never used drugs (I'm not even a smoker). He saw how devastated I was so he set me up for another appointment.


The second appointment was way worse. This time the room was huge yet it was mostly empty, only me the examiner and the equipment. He started by telling me how accurate the machine is and then went on to the usual questioning, asking me questions like "How reliable are you" I told him "90%", and various other control questions. Then he gave me the "numbers test", after which I've asked him if he really saw that I was lying because I didn't feel a thing when I lied on purpose! He said "of course".
The test started... I was already scared of the drug and prior crime questions so whenever those came up I got a chill down my spine which probably didn't bode very well. I was in the seat for 3-4 hours and I tired and had a feeling that this is going nowhere. The examiner went out for quite a long time (more than 15 minutes) and then he came up with the results saying that I was deceptive and that he was "sorry".

I was ruined by this because this "mark of cain" meant that I couldn't get a decent programming or computer related job in the military. I went into a depression for a few months, and my (compulsory) military service causes me grief because I'm forced to do something I don't like and I keep dreaming about doing something I do like. It seems that even my parents were skeptical of me for a while. My dad kept asking whether I've really tried drugs or not, which didn't make me feel any better. If only I've gotten that job, my life would've been completely different. 

I did not look up countermeasures or even read anything about the polygraph before getting the test because I was afraid it would influence the results of the tests, looks like I was wrong. I should've read "The Lie Behind the Lie Detector" before taking the test and I make sure to point people who are about to get a polygraph to your website.

Thanks for your time.

"I don't know anything about lie detectors other than they scare the hell out of people." 
--Richard Nixon