Neurofeedback for anxiety can help reduce fear and worry. A main component of anxiety is the repetitive, negative thoughts that create chronic fear and worry. Neurofeedback helps quiet the mind so that stressful events don’t bother you as much and recovery is faster and needs less or no medication.
If your brain is in a constant state of worry, the fight or flight mode can become your daily struggle. Instead of coming back down into a calm, resting state after a stressor, your brain stays in a state of anxiety. You may have the same amount of anxiety no matter what is actually happening in your life.
Stress is a normal part of life. It is a natural response to challenges or frustrations that everyone has to deal with. Anxiety is a higher level of stress that interferes with your daily functioning. It is due to real or imagined worries and fears. Anxiety can hijack your brain, making it difficult to function and think and act rationally.
Anxiety Takes A Toll
Uncontrollable emotions can take a toll on our most important relationships. Sometimes, it’s the people closest to us that suffer when we struggle with uncontrollable emotions and anxiety.
Anxiety makes it difficult to move on from feelings or behaviors. As a result, you can spend a lot of time combating spinning thoughts, worry and fear. Anxiety can range from physical symptoms to internal worry to various behaviors.
Physical symptoms include racing heart, sweaty palms, difficulty breathing, feeling restless, hives, stomach aches, headaches, nausea, vomiting and loose bowels. Internal worries include a nagging sense of fear, negative thinking, obsessing, being self-critical, difficulty concentrating and incessant internal chatter. Anxious behaviors might include defensiveness, disrupted sleep, rage, irritability, moodiness and ritual behaviors like hand washing.
Chronic anxiety and stress seems to go along with many chronic health conditions. Asthma, cardiovascular issues, cancer and chronic pain can cause anxiety and further decrease your quality of life. Autoimmune diseases like lupus and irritable bowel syndrome are profoundly impacted by anxiety.
Anxiety disorders are classified into generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, social anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic disorder with/without agoraphobia, and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Doing neurofeedback can often help you reduce or eliminate drugs as you become calm and more stable.
Neurofeedback For Anxiety
Neurofeedback for anxiety is a non-invasive process we do in my office. It rewires your brain and calms down your nervous system. It helps you develop better self-regulation and builds resiliency. This leads to an improved ability to manage stress and anxiety.
Neurofeedback And Chronic Stress
Neurofeedback helps your brain build new neural pathways. In childhood, chronic stress that occurs early in life, when your brain is developing, has a devastating effect on the central nervous system and brain. As an adult, chronic stress can rob you of your ability to manage day-to-day activities. It can lead to a tailspin of mental health challenges.
Neurofeedback encourages neuroplasticity. We now know that the brain can regenerate and create new patterns of activity. It helps your brain to be more flexible and to develop healthier patterns.
Neurofeedback has a profound impact on how the brain processes stress. It can be deeply impactful in repairing old ways of functioning so new, more effective strategies can be implemented.
Neurofeedback helps the brain with rumination, getting stuck on negative thoughts. It promotes better sleep and mood, less hypervigilence, worry and fear.
What Is The Process Of Neurofeedback For Anxiety?
When we meet, I use a water soluble paste to apply electrodes to your scalp. These electrodes feed brainwave activity into my computer. This is how I “listen” to your brain and see what activity is going on. This brainwave activity affects how you’re feeling.
While this is happening, you will see your brain waves represented by a video of that you choose. This can be a beach scene, a nature hike, or a spaceship flying through space. You can even watch a movie or play a video game. As your brain creates more calming brainwaves, the picture expands and gets brighter.
Your brain needs to be engaged through as many of your senses as possible. Neurofeedback protocols engage the brain through auditory feedback such as music. We use many interesting visuals and even a vibrating stuffed animal that provides touch feedback to engage your brain.
Our work with Neurofeedback encourages your brain to produce resting state brain waves. These waves calm and relax your nervous system and return your brain to a more resilient and regulated state. I use your symptoms to help me understand how your nervous system is dysregulated and where to pay attention based on your reports of what’s going on in your life.
The Default Mode Network
The Default Mode Network is active when you are not focused on the outside world. Is is a state of wakeful rest, like daydreaming or your mind wandering. It is also active when you are thinking about yourself or others, remembering the past or planning for the future. This is the main part of the brain that is calmed during neurofeedback.
As we work through our sessions, you will start to feel calm and relaxed, but still alert. Some people say they feel lighter, more grounded and more themselves. Some feel like their brain isn’t constantly thinking of so many things at once, so they feel more focused and centered.
In the first three or four sessions, if a particular brainwave helps you feel relaxed, yet alert, I tell the computer to encourage that wave. That way, we find the best brainwave patterns for you. In this, everyone is different. Over time we activate more brain wave activity that moves you towards better self-regulation.
Once we understand your optimal brainwaves, your brain learns how to maintain this healthier state without using Neurofeedback. How many sessions you need depends on what we are treating and how long you’ve been dealing with the problem.
Is Neurofeedback For Anxiety Right For You?
As you explore the right therapeutic techniques to help resolve your feelings/reduce your stress, you may be drawn to neurofeedback because it doesn’t require you to relive traumatic events or express painful emotions. You don’t have to tell me your full story or your painful experiences.
Instead, you simply sit in a comfortable chair and we work with brain function. Then overtime, once you feel more grounded and have less stress, talking through whatever remains of your story is easier.
Numerous studies have investigated the effectiveness of neurofeedback in reducing anxiety symptoms. Overall, the research suggests that neurofeedback can be an effective treatment option for anxiety disorders, providing long-lasting benefits.
If you are interested in neurofeedback for anxiety, please feel free to contact me. I have offices in Santa Monica and Torrance where I do neurofeedback. My email is mindy@mftherapy.com and my phone number is 310-314-6933.