If you have been medically diagnosed with depression, anxiety, insomnia, ADHD, migraines, etc, most likely you were given a prescription for a stimulant, an antidepressant, an anti-anxiety medication, or some other form of medication to “treat” the symptoms.
For many, even after taking the medications, they still struggle with symptoms along with unwanted side effects of the medication. After stopping a medication, the symptoms often return or get worse. It is common to take medications for a very long time period, which is not only problematic as dependence can develop, but there are also growing concerns about the long-term use of medications affecting brain function.
What if the symptoms associated with ADHD, depression, anxiety, insomnia, migraines, etc stemmed from the dysregulated brain waves? They do! The good news is that there is an effective treatment for dysregulated brain waves called Neurofeedback.
Both kids and adults can benefit from Neurofeedback in regards to ADHD, anxiety, depression, migraines, insomnia, fibromyalgia, PTSD, Autism, Learning Challenges, head injuries.
What is Neurofeedback?
Neurofeedback training is an “exercise for the brain.” Just like exercise strengthens muscles, neurofeedback uses operant conditioning to strengthen certain areas of brain function – in the exact areas and ways that we have determined could be functioning better from your brain map.
The technology is fun to use
For patients, neurofeedback at Greenville Brain Training is very easy to do. All you do is sit back, relax and watch a movie of your choice. During a neurofeedback session, a person’s brain wave activity is tracked via sensors on the scalp. In fact, in a single session, the brain observes over 1000 times when it’s on track and when it’s off track creating better function in the areas that need it. This information is communicated to the individual with auditory and visual signals. When your brainwaves fire at a rate that’s too slow, too often or too fast, the movie will dim on the screen and the volume will lower — providing immediate feedback to your brain that something is out of balance.
When the brain works better, there is less need for medications. People are able to adequately manage their brain state more easily. The more efficient the brain, the less medications that will be needed to accomplish the same effect.
You can remain on your medications while training
You don’t have to choose between Neurofeedback and medications, you can continue your medications while training your brain to function better. One of the goals at Greenville Brain Training is to eliminate dysregulated brain wave patterns which often reduce or remove the symptoms naturally, and therefore the need for medications used to help control them. We advise our patients to work with their prescribing physician directly about their need for continued medications or decreasing their dosages as they improve with training, because the way medications affect a dysregulated brain is very different from how they affect a balanced brain.
Is Neurofeedback Permanent?
Once your brain learns how and when to produce a certain brain wave, that ability becomes embedded as a new, permanent circuit. This process is known as neuroplasticity. It’s the same thing as learning to ride a bicycle. Once the neuroplasticity takes place, you can still ride a bicycle even if you haven’t ridden in years.