Neurofeedback

[Athena]

I read an article recently about something called 'Neurofeedback' (also called EEG biofeedback). It is what I thought Biofeedback was until I discovered otherwise. Anyway, I had been interested in using an EEG to help me see what my brainwaves were doing and utilizing it in a specific way so as to retrain them. I can't remember why I wanted to do that so many years ago but I have some very specific goals in mind now. And the interesting, exciting and hopeful thing is that it has been shown to be effective for sleep, stress, anxiety, depression and pain - all areas I have been trying to get relief from for years with no success.

The other link to this is that Fibromyalgia (chronic pain, depression, chronic fatigue, among other ailments), from all the recent research I have been reading is caused by an "overactive midbrain". Which is basically where the 'fight or flight' response resides. Sounds like me to a T. And given that my GP won't refer me to any specialists for my FM, I was happy to have another avenue to check out.

I also read it has helped BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) and Bipolar patients. It makes an awful lot of sense. Retraining the brain not to "freak out" every time it perceives a danger or relives a trauma sounds like a good idea to me.

So anyway, I wanted to pass this info on in case anybody else with these ailments has tried everything else under the sun without any lasting relief. Here are some websites that I found informative, but you can also Google "Neurofeedback" alone or in conjunction with Fibromyalgia, Borderline Personality, or whatever pain or mental health issue you are struggling with.

http://www.neurofeedback-scotland.com/borderline-personality-disorder-treatment.html

http://www.thedaily.com/page/2011/06/20/062011-news-neurofeedback-1-6/

http://www.eeginfo.com/

[LaLa]

Wow! It's strange as everything that offers such "magic" effects seems 'kind of equivocal', but... this really sounds very credible to me... I didn't check the price of the treatment, so it's probably quite expensive, but... it seems like worth trying.

Are you considering to try it, Athena ? Or it's unavailable where you live ?

[Guest ASchwartz]

Hi Athena,

sounds good to me. Im aware of some of this research. My advice is to be very careful about who you go to for this, if you go. there are lots of charletons out there and you don't want to get ripped off. also, im always doubtful when a treatment claims to help or cure everything. so, be a smart consumer.

allan

[Athena]

Thanks for your comments, Lala and Allan. There is only one practitioner I can find in my city. I can see how this could be faked. However, I am extremely skeptical, so placebos so far have never worked on me. It is my nature to try and 'catch people out'. For it to work for me I will probably need more solid proof than most people require - otherwise my own distrust will sabotage the whole process. If it is the 'miracle cure' I will certainly be telling everybody about it:).