Neurofeedback Equipment for Mental Health
Mental health symptoms and solutions are being openly discussed more than ever. Most days that I turn on the news I hear at least one story related to mental health. Just today I heard a report about three separate people who were survivors or a relative of a survivor of a school shooting who committed suicide. We often hear reports of the devastation across the country related to abuse of opioid drugs. Concussions caused by car accidents, slip and falls, sports injuries cause memory loss, behavior and mood changes as well as other problems.
People are being diagnosed with ADD and ADHD and prescribed medications that may have to be taken for the rest of their lives with potential side effects.
Neurofeedback equipment is being used as one therapy modality that can help with many mental health conditions. Healthcare professionals including psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists, mental health counselors, social workers, nurses, chiropractors are using neurofeedback adjunctively with other therapies to help people with many of these mental health problems. For more information on conditions that neurofeedback therapy is used for refer to Comprehensive Neurofeedback Bibliography D. Corydon Hammond, PhD.
The electrical signals that are produced by the brain are measured using a device attached to the person by sensors placed on the head. The signals are separated into Delta, Theta, Alpha, (SMR) Sensory Motor Rhythm, Beta, and Gamma. During an assessment it is determined if there are imbalances in the brainwave activity. The same or similar neurofeedback equipment is then used to measure, give visual and or auditory feedback, and train the brain to produce more regulated or “normal” electrical patterns.
This usually will help to decrease the types of mental health symptoms mentioned earlier.
As an example, a person suffering with anxiety may show a pattern of higher than expected high frequency beta wave activity which is associated with over thinking and worry. They may also show lower levels of alpha than normally expected. Alpha is associated with a relaxed state so if their alpha level is low then they would probably not feel relaxed.
In this case the protocol on the neurofeedback equipment would be set up to encourage the brain to produce less of the high frequency beta and more of the lower frequency alpha. The encouragement for the brain is the visual and or audio feedback which is a signal that the desired brain pattern is happening at that moment. As soon as the conditions are no longer being met the feedback or reinforcement stops. In this way the reward or lack of reward trains the brain to produce the desired pattern more often. After a while this pattern that is being reinforced becomes more normal and occurs more often for the person even when they are not actively receiving feedback and they are not connected to the instrument. This is a non-invasive therapy that has been used effectively for several mental health conditions for decades.
Harry L. Campbell, BPS, BCB, BCN
President, Biofeedback Resources International Corp.
Author of What Stress Can Do, Available on Amazon.com
