An apparatus and method for diagnosing and/or treating autonomic dysregulation is disclosed. In a preferred embodiment, a user is presented stressful audio-visual content at a known time. The resulting amount of deviation of the users autonomic nervous system from stasis is automatically quantified periodically subsequent to the presentation of the stressful audio-visual content by monitoring a parameter of the users heartbeat over time, thus automatically measuring both the amount of disturbance in the users autonomic nervous system, and the re-settling time of the users autonomic nervous system for given stressful audio-visual content. The apparatus may then guide the user through one or more awareness exercises, and subsequently re-measure the users response to stressful audio-visual content.
