Drug-Free
Non-invasive
Rare side-effects
Clinically-proven
Long lasting benefits
Neurofeedback therapy is an effective treatment for insomnia and other sleep disorders.
It is estimated that about 60 million Americans are affected by a sleep disorder every year. Although scientists know relatively little about how chronic sleeplessness works, what is well-known is that sleepless nights can have devastating effects on daily routines, mood, energy levels, and many other important aspects of life. Additionally, chronic sleeplessness appears to be a risk factor for many other conditions, including obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
While insomnia and other sleep disorders have been traditionally studied from a behavioral perspective, recent
research suggests that in the case of insomnia, the brain is unable to properly process information due to cortical
hyperarousal. This creates abnormal brainwave patterns and functions is specific areas of the brain.
Neurofeedback therapy is a process that slowly retrains the brain to return to normal functions. Many patients with serious sleep issues that are treated with neurofeedback report significant improvements to their sleep patterns, and overall quality of life.
Neurofeedback is much safer than sleeping pills.
Additional Information
Is Neurofeedback Therapy a safe alternative to sleeping pills?
Yes, neurofeedback is a safe alternative to sleeping pills.
Sleeping pills, most often classified as “sedative hypnotics”, are a specific class of drugs used to induce and/or maintain sleep. While effective, these medications come with a large number of potential side-effects and have been shown to cause problems with memory loss and attention in long-term users. I addition to being addicting, sleeping pills are often associated with overdose and suicidal thoughts. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reported that emergency room visits associated with sleeping pills doubled between 2005 and 2010. Finally, many studies have shown that sleeping pills, despite all of their risks, don’t work very well. The National Institute of Health analyzed several sleeping pill studies and found that patients on sleeping pills only
slept an average of 12 to 30 minutes more per night. That’s not a lot of extra sleep considering the risks.
Neurofeedback provides a long-term benefit for patients with sleep problems as the positive effects extend far beyond the in-person treatment timeline. Furthermore, neurofeedback therapy offers a drug-free, and thus, a side-effect- free treatment option for people who aren’t responding to or don’t want to take the risks of, sleeping pills.
Is Neurofeedback Therapy a clinically proven treatment for insomnia?
Yes, neurofeedback therapy is a clinically proven treatment for insomnia.
There are many research studies that show positive support for neurofeedback as a treatment for insomnia. Please see a few examples below and don’t hesitate to contact MyBrainDr for additional information and studies.
Neurofeedback in ADHD and insomnia: Vigilance stabilization through sleep spindles and circadian networks.
“It is hypothesized that both Sensori-Motor Rhythm (SMR) and Slow-Cortical Potential (SCP) neurofeedback impact on the sleep spindle circuitry resulting in increased sleep spindle density, normalization of SOI and thereby affect the noradrenergic LC, resulting in vigilance stabilization. After SOI is normalized, improvements in ADHD symptoms will occur with a delayed onset of effect.”
“Therefore, clinical trials investigating new treatments in ADHD should include assessments at follow-up as their primary endpoint rather than assessments at outtake. Furthermore, an implication requiring further study is that neurofeedback could be stopped when SOI is normalized, which might result in fewer sessions.”
EEG Slow (∼1 Hz) Waves Are Associated With Nonstationarity of Thalamo-Cortical Sensory Processing in the Sleeping Human
“Overall, the amplitude of the evoked potential changed systematically, increasing and approaching wakefulness levels along the negative slope of the EEG oscillation and decaying below SWS average levels along the positive drift. These marked and fast changes of stimulus-correlated electrical activity involved both short (N20) and long latency (P60 and P100) components of SEPs.”
“In addition, the observed short-term response variability appeared to be centrally generated and specifically related to the evolution of the spontaneous oscillatory pattern. The present findings demonstrate that thalamocortical processing of sensory information is not stationary in the very short period (approximately 500 ms) during natural SWS.”
MyBrainDr successfully treats insomnia and other sleep disorders with neurofeedback therapy in Cary, North Carolina. Click the button below to schedule your free consultation today!
