Unfortunately, I cannot give you a resounding “YES”, however many of our clients – myself included – have noticed longer, deeper and much improved sleep as a result of Neurofeedback training.
Insomnia is complicated and can have many origins. Some of us struggle to fall asleep, while others can’t stay asleep. Bathroom runs wake us up and can switch on a racing mind, leaving you awake for many hours or even for the remainder of the night. Stress is a big driver, and who is not stressed these days?
For me, my stress ignited terrible sleep patterns, leaving me with less than 5 hours of sleep per night for many years. Unless you have experienced insomnia, no one really understands how devastating poor sleep can be and how difficult it is to manage the day. I felt like a zombie at work, my memory was shot, my moods were all over the place, my cravings for carbs went through the roof (as did my weight), and I lived in a constant state of anxiety. I dreaded bedtime, as I panicked over whether or not I would be able to sleep. I even resorted to prescription sleep medication, after exhausting all natural alternatives, but they only made my daytime anxiety, brain fog, and grogginess worse. It was a living nightmare!
I was so fortunate when Marty, my boss and owner of Total Health, introduced Neurofeedback to our clinic. I was not only one of the first to engage in the Neurofeedback training, but I also quickly became one of the certified Neurofeedback practitioners at Total Health. Needless to say, I’m a total fan of Neurofeedback! Within just 10 training sessions, I noticed a drop in my anxiety levels. I felt calmer, less anxious and didn’t overreact to demands of my job. I noticed my concentration and memory improve. As I progressed through my training, I noticed small improvements in my sleep. I was falling asleep quicker, as I stressed less about my ability to sleep. Instead of waking up at 2 am, I found myself sleeping through to 3am, 3:30am, then 4am – a big victory! I would love to tell you that I am sleeping through the night, but I still have “bad” nights, but nowhere near the torture I endured for many years. Thank you Neurofeedback!
My education in Neurofeedback helped me understand how the training can benefit and calm the brain. Neurofeedback trains irregular brainwaves back into health brain wave patterns. In particular I would like to explain alpha and beta brain waves to you, as they are the main drivers of acute and chronic anxiety, as well as depression. Alpha and beta brain waves are different from the other brain waves, in that they are asymmetrical. This means that alpha brain waves in a healthy person should be higher in the right brain hemisphere and beta brain waves higher in the left. When they are reversed, or in the incorrect brain hemisphere, we see elevated levels of anxiety, worry, nervousness, irritability, anxiousness, depression and you probably guessed, poor sleep. NO fun! Through the Neurofeedback training, we can gently guide the brain back into healthy brain wave patterns and re-establish balanced asymmetry in the brain. One of the first noticeable benefits is a feeling of calm.
I would like to give you a very important understanding in how Neurofeedback works. In no way are we “brainwashing” you or forcefully correcting unhealthy brain wave patterns. Through our system, we only make suggestions to the brain, enticing it to train through a reward system (similar to biofeedback), but it is up to your brain whether or not it wants to train. This is why we cannot make promises regarding your training, as it’s impossible for us to predict how your brain will respond. Having said that, we generally see good results.
If you are curious and would like more information, or if you would like to experience a brain map and learn more about your brain wave activity, please call our office at (262) 251-2929 or schedule an appointment.
Thank you for your interest and wishing you a good night’s sleep!
Mona Eberle
Naturopathic Practitioner, Nutritional Therapist, Neurofeedback Clinician
