Anxiety, ADHD and Neurofeedback

Anxiety is a state of mind which causes uneasiness and worry. It is an unpleasant feeling mixed with fear. Anxiety doesn’t need an external condition to trigger it; sometimes it can be an imaginary threat or something that seems uncontrollable.

General symptoms are: ongoing tension, imaginary problems, restlessness, irritability, tension in the muscles, headaches, sweating, tiresome feelings, nausea, lack of sleep and trembling. Negative thoughts are the root cause for anxiety. As they get a strong hold on your mind you feel tenser and thereby breed anxiety. When assessing the brainwaves it can be seen that the brain is functioning too fast (high beta brain waves) which cause stress, ruminations, anxiety, sleeping problems and poor memory. Neurofeedback trains the brain to function calmer, allowing it to create better neuro-pathways and stopping the negative thought patterns. By training the brain to function optimally, you will feel more in control, cope in stressful situations, feel more positive and happy and sleep better. On average 20-30sessions are needed to train the brain to function optimally.

ADD/ADHD

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic condition that affects millions of children and often persists into adulthood. ADD/ADHD has a number of causes: 1) oxygen deprivation at birth, 2) inheritance rate (up to 70%), 3) alcohol, and drug intake or toxins during pregnancy. ADHD includes a combination of problems, such as difficulty sustaining attention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior. During the neurofeedback assessment we can generally see high theta brainwaves (a slow brain wave that we have when we are in a light sleep) in the frontal and central areas in the brain. High theta brainwaves cause the attention to drift which leads to poor performance.

Children with ADHD also may struggle with low self-esteem, troubled relationships and poor performance in school. They are disorganized and often impulsive emotionally and verbally. They go off on tangents in conversation and often misunderstand what you are telling them. They have short attention spans and are impatient with themselves and others. They crave immediate gratification and will manipulate others to get it. They may have difficulty with working and short term memory as well as reading comprehension. They often end up in misunderstandings and conflicts with others.

Neurofeedback training helps the brain to functioning optimally. By stimulating the brain to function better it can create new pathways. Training is repeated in a number of sessions until the brain is able to reproduce the desired performance on its own. 40-60 sessions are needed to train the brain to function optimally.