Can Neurofeedback Help with Panic Disorder and Anxiety Attacks?
By Clare Albright
Over the years, the number of uses for biofeedback has continued to rise, which is welcome news for people dealing with unique challenges. One example is that biofeedback for the brain, or neurofeedback, is now a popular therapy for people living with panic disorder. Going through an anxiety or panic attack can be frightening and even debilitating, so getting this type of disorder under control and maintaining that control is imperative to a long and healthy life.
For some people, a panic attack can be so severe that physical symptoms mimic a heart attack, causing the victim to feel as if he or she is dying. Obviously, trying to function and live normally with such a disorder can be very difficult and discouraging. However, with neurofeedback, people may learn to identify the things that are causing an attack so the panic or anxiety attack is stopped in its tracks.
During a panic attack, no matter how mild or major, the episode involves overwhelming fear. The problem is that these attacks can occur without much notice, which makes them difficult to manage. Although most attacks last no more than 10 minutes, when in the middle of one, it seems like a lifetime. What makes panic disorder even worse is that once a person has experienced an attack, the greater fear comes from a fear of having future attacks.
In other words, when a person has his or her first anxiety or panic attack, the attack itself is frightening. However, knowing what happens during an attack after having experienced one causes extreme worry that another one will come and the person has no idea when. Therefore, the fear is two-fold, which makes coping with it even more challenging. Although every person has different symptoms, and even different intensities of symptoms, the more common symptoms include:
- Fast breathing, even hyperventilating
- Rapid heart rate
- Weakness
- Numbness of the fingers, toes, arms, or legs
- Muscle tension
- Excessive sweating
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Changes in vision
- Chest pain
In addition to the physical symptoms that go along with panic disorders, there are also changes within the mind. For instance, the individual may feel as if he or she is going crazy, have trouble in social settings, experience distorted perceptions, or have a sense of detachment from self. Neurofeedback is proving to be effective for many people living with panic attacks, relieving them from the irrational fear and sense of doom that accompany this disorder. Depending on the individual or intensity of the problem, some therapists will recommend neurofeedback alone or in addition to another form of therapy.
Sometimes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is also recommended. The goal is to educate the individual about things that are causing the attack, which is why neurofeedback is a great option. With it, stressors and triggers from the mind that lead to the physical symptoms of the attack are identified. Over time, the patient may have the ability to stop the process and so end the attacks. Even if an occasional attack should occur, using neurofeedback may help to reduce the intensity of the symptoms so the attacks are far more manageable.
Neurofeedback therapy can be successful because it addresses the problem at its source–the brain. Through several sessions using an EEG neurofeedback machine, which reads brain waves, the patient may learn to maintain brain function within certain wavelengths. Once these changes have become longer lasting, after about twenty to forty sessions, the brain may continue to function effortlessly outside the frequencies that correspond with panic attacks.
About The Author
For more information about Neurofeedback, go to http://www.NeurofeedbackBook.com Dr. Clare Albright is a psychologist (CA License PSY11660) and a Neurofeedback practitioner and can be reached at (949)454-0996