Neurofeedback for PTSD
Got Trauma?
Trauma robs our CNS of any rest. It must be continuously on guard. It does not matter whether the event took place days ago or years ago - our brain has been rewired to cope with the event. That was a needful thing at the time. Now that the event is no longer a threat, we can acknowledge "it's just history" with our concious mind. But we still react before we can catch ourselves, because deep in our subconcious brain we are on constant guard. The well-learned response happens before we know it. Our thoughts, our emotions, our bodies have reacted again, often to the surprise of ourselves as well as others.
What is PTSD?
Terrified and stuck in a loop. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) may occur in persons who have been subjected to traumatic events which are outside the range of usual human experience. Trauma can include abuse (physical, emotional, or sexual), accidents, witnessing something horrific, receiving shocking news, and exposure to combat. Trauma also results from ongoing neglect or stress.
The individual will often live in a state of extreme vigilance with much anxiety, disturbing nightmares, and/or social withdrawal. “Flashbacks” may occur. The flashbacks are vivid, very realistic re-experiences of the event. Often some fragmented image from the traumatic experience is triggered by some current situation which is similar in some way to the traumatic situation. Insomnia, phobias, depression, alacoholism, addictions, unstable moods, nightmares and dulusional thinking may also be experienced by a person after the event is over.
A blow to the head will show structural damage on an MRI. While an emotional trauma will not show up on the MRI the way the physical blow to the head did, functionally, the effect is the same. Parts of the brain can shut down or spin into hyper-drive, or both.
At the same time, complete memories of the experience may be unavailable to the person during everyday consciousness. Theories as to why this suppression of the memories would occur vary. One popular view holds that the memory is actively suppressed by the unconscious mind as a means of protecting the individual from overwhelming levels of anxiety that would occur if full recall were permitted. Another theory holds that the traumatic event itself induces a deeply altered state of consciousness which is so far from the normal state that it is inaccessible to the individual when awake.
How is it Treated?
Conventional psychotherapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder typically involves several years of individual and group sessions. Medication for anxiety, depression, and other symptoms is routinely prescribed with an open-ended time frame.All too often the client becomes discouraged and drops out of therapy before they truly resolve their trauma and return to a normal life. It's hard to keep revisiting a destructive trauma in hopes of getting rid of the aftermath!
A new form of therapy for this disorder has emerged in the last few years. The pioneering work of Dr. Eugene Peniston at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Fort Lyons, Colorado, and Dr. Carol Manchester in Cincinnati, Ohio, has opened a new range of possibilities for those seeking help with serious, persistent anxiety and depression. The brain can literally be trained out of the destructive brain wave loops that keep the PTSD active. Neurofeedback professional provide this training, which can eliminate both the PTSD and its symptoms.
Using continuous feedback of information about the electrical activity of the client’s brain, the client is taught to allow themselves to go into a profoundly relaxed, yet quietly alert state. This is possible because certain patterns of brain electrical activity are known to correspond to this calm, centered feeling. Rather than treating symptoms or having a person work through a treatment regimen, the source of the problem is addressed directly - with training.
How Neurofeedback (NF) Training Works
A computer records EEG activity (brain wave patterns) using electrodes pasted on the scalp surface.This non-invasive "listening" device is painless and comfortable. In conventional NF, an assessment of the EEG activity is done. This allows the neurotherapist to determine the pattern of training that will be most beneficial for the individual. The computer is then adjusted so that it creates a musical tone as the person begins to generate more of the desirable brain rhythms. This “neuro-feed-back” literally guides the person to a more and more calm state. Clients begin to feel a tremendous sense of empowerment as they take back what they were deprived of by the trauma — a good night’s sleep, feelings of calm and confidence, and a general sense of well-being.
The results of controlled studies, as well as clinical experience with this therapy have been tremendously encouraging. People who have been suffering from PTSD for ten and twenty years are often completely relieved of their symptoms. Follow-up testing has shown that the person becomes markedly less anxious, depression is reduced or eliminated, and the person is generally more comfortable and relaxed. The power of the traumatic incident is removed, reducing an all-consuming experience to a simpler factual memory. Release from trauma means regaining one's life.
Why Neurofeedback is Preferred by Many
Neurofeedback addresses the source of the trouble - problematic brain wave activity that got stuck in a disrupted pattern due to trauma. Neurofeedback does not rely on drugs and other chemicals to mask or modify the symptoms. Neurofeedback does not need the client to "relive" the trauma in order to move past it. Neurofeedback addresses each brain individually. Neurofeedback can accomplish in months what would normally take years - personal, conscious control of one's alpha-meditative state. (This is the area that is crucial in resolving PTSD symptoms.)
Watch the PTSD video
Neurofeedback for PTSD
|
