Psycho-Babble Alternative Thread 1089270

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Newsweek article about neurofeedback

Posted by Hugh on May 27, 2016, at 10:23:22

I first stumbled across the concept of neurofeedback while researching a story on anger in 2014. A couple of the experts I interviewed mentioned the practice, and I found a company called Brain State Technologies that offered a neurofeedback treatment it called Brainwave Optimization. The company connected me with a practitioner in New York City, and in April that year I underwent two sessions. After the first session, I felt as if I'd just finished meditating, and the world seemed a little brighter. After the second, I felt like I'd taken a Xanax.

More committed users sometimes--though not always--see even more dramatic and long-lasting effects. Longo's wife, for example, started using neurofeedback after she fell down a flight of stairs and suffered a series of headaches and vertigo. After 30 sessions, "it made a 100 percent difference," she says. "This is one of mental health's best-kept secrets," Longo adds. "The pharmaceutical companies don't like us because it gets people off of drugs. But there's a growing amount of literature and research, and in the next five or 10 years you're going to see a lot of support when we say we can treat things like traumatic brain injuries, anxiety, depression, ADHD, insomnia, migraine headaches and people who have had strokes."

Charles Tegeler, a neurology professor at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina, got into the field after running a stroke center for 15 years. He became increasingly concerned that stress was killing people, he says, and "putting people on drugs was just a big Band-Aid." In 2009, Tegeler heard about Brain State. "I thought it sounded like bunk," he says. But his daughter had developed migraine headaches so excruciating she'd missed most of her classes during the previous semester. Tegeler decided she could undergo the company's brain wave optimization. "If it helps her headaches, we'll talk," he says of his feelings before the sessions. Tegeler also tried it himself, to see if it could do anything for his irregular heartbeat. After 10 sessions in five days, Tegeler's heart was back to normal, and his daughter's headaches were gone.

In 2009, he founded a research institute at Wake Forest called HIRREM, which stands for "high-resolution, relational, resonance-based, electroencephalic mirroring." The facility has enrolled 400 people in five neurofeedback research projects, all using Brain State's technology. Participants included people with traumatic brain injuries, insomniacs and people suffering from depression or stress. Most of HIRREM's participants have seen improvement, Tegeler says. On balance, the results are "like condensing three years of medication into three days," with only a small rate of adverse effects. The center is about to release the findings of a placebo-controlled study of 104 people with insomnia and is launching trials later this year to see if neurofeedback helps those who suffer from PTSD.

Here's the complete article:

http://www.newsweek.com/neurofeedback-brain-regulation-neuroscience-457492

 

Re: Newsweek article about neurofeedback » Hugh

Posted by Chris O on June 1, 2016, at 2:47:58

In reply to Newsweek article about neurofeedback, posted by Hugh on May 27, 2016, at 10:23:22

Great article, Hugh. Thanks for sharing. Makes me want to try it. Maybe I will.

 

Re: Newsweek article about neurofeedback » Chris O

Posted by Hugh on June 12, 2016, at 10:50:49

In reply to Re: Newsweek article about neurofeedback » Hugh, posted by Chris O on June 1, 2016, at 2:47:58

You're welcome. If you decide to try neurofeedback, the protocol I'd suggest is called Whole-Brain Training Circuit. It was developed by Peter Van Deusen. You could contact him to see if there are any neurofeedback clinicians in your area who use this protocol. Or, if you're computer savvy, you could purchase neurofeedback equipment and a self-training plan from Van Deusen.

https://brain-trainer.com/

An interesting book about neurofeedback is A Symphony in the Brain by Jim Robbins.

 

Re: Newsweek article about neurofeedback » Hugh

Posted by Chris O on June 12, 2016, at 11:57:42

In reply to Re: Newsweek article about neurofeedback » Chris O, posted by Hugh on June 12, 2016, at 10:50:49

Thanks, Hugh! I've book marked the website and will check it out when I have time. I'll also try to check out Robbins book if I have time.

Chris

 

Re: Newsweek article about neurofeedback » Hugh

Posted by Chris O on June 12, 2016, at 12:02:33

In reply to Re: Newsweek article about neurofeedback » Chris O, posted by Hugh on June 12, 2016, at 10:50:49

Wow, a bit expensive for me, though, the equipment on that website. Like, way out of my league.

 

Re: Newsweek article about neurofeedback » Chris O

Posted by Hugh on June 18, 2016, at 9:49:41

In reply to Re: Newsweek article about neurofeedback » Hugh, posted by Chris O on June 12, 2016, at 12:02:33

This site sells more affordable neurofeedback equipment for self-training:

http://pocketneurobics.com/

But I think it's better to go to a neurofeedback clinician, rather than trying to train yourself. In most cases, at least. People who are computer savvy (which I'm not) may make good self-trainers.

Neurofeedback clinicians charge between $50 and $125 per session, depending on what part of the country you live in. Of course, there's no guarantee that neurofeedback will help you, but this could be said of any other treatment for depression.

Neurofeedback is expensive, but not nearly as expensive as depression. My depression has cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost earnings.

 

Re: Newsweek article about neurofeedback » Hugh

Posted by Chris O on June 18, 2016, at 11:32:12

In reply to Re: Newsweek article about neurofeedback » Chris O, posted by Hugh on June 18, 2016, at 9:49:41

Thanks, Hugh.

"My depression has cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost earnings."

I heard that, brother! I feel the same way. In my anger (I guess), I feel like my depression has cost me being the leader/boss of those who "offer" their "help" to me (the psychiatric industry). Nothing would make me happier than to feel well enough to "help" them like they have "helped" me (always charging thousands of dollars, course, because it's all about "freedom," right?)

 

Re: Newsweek article about neurofeedback

Posted by Lamdage22 on October 3, 2017, at 11:30:10

In reply to Re: Newsweek article about neurofeedback » Hugh, posted by Chris O on June 18, 2016, at 11:32:12

Thanks. I am signed up for this but have another 5 ½ Months to wait.
I will ask her which protocol she uses.


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