I have suffered from depression and anxiety for about 17 years and have been treated with a combination of psychotherapy, cognitive therapy and medication. I have ups and downs but still struggle most of the time. My PC physician would like to try Neurofeedback. She is upfront about it being somewhat experimental and that it seems to help some people with certain indications but not all. My Psychiatrist sees no danger in persuing this line of treatment.
Has anyone had experience with Neurofeedback, positive or negative?
I had some success with Neurofeedback in treating my panic attacks. I used it as the last part of a 6 week course I was enrolled in. It was too expensive for me at the time to continue so my experience is limited. However, I was able to reduce my migraine pain when applying what I had learned.
Overall I believe it can work but, again, that opinion is anecdotal and limited.
Jane - why didn’t your insurance cover it? If it had would you have continued? My doctor has led me to believe that it can become clear after just a few treatments whether or not it will benefit a patient. While I don’t completely understand it yet, I think it might be a nature vs. nurture issue - if you were born with the issue then it may not help but if you developed depression or anxiety later in life than you have a better chance of success. I admit I know very little at this point and need to study up.
Hi Zago,
I am a neurofeedback therapist. I have been able to help several folks with depression, anxiety and other conditions. Neurofeedback IS NOT experimental. It works; there are 30 plus years of research that supports its benefits. I would recommend that you give it a go. However, keep in mind that it is not a quick solution. It takes a number of sessions. Nonetheless is a magnificent tool. To find a therapist in your area go to www.bcia.org or www.eeginfo.com
I also use audio-visual-entrainment and it also has worked with some people, vistit www.mindalive.com for more info.
Hope this helps.
Thanks Shago, I have my first appointment set up for Neurofeedback and am looking forward to it. I’m wondering if there are any generalizations that can be made about how well it works for people in different situations. I have an abundance of patience - if I’m willing to stick with it should I see results or are there certain types of cases that don’t respond? Is it a treatment that is adjusted to respond to a patient’s progress or lack of? I sincerely hope this will improve my quality of life and am fully committed.