depression

Depression is more than a transitory feeling of being sad or ‘down’. It affects an individual’s ability to function, diminishing interest or pleasure in most activities, influencing their usual patterns of sleep, appetite (decreased or increased) and energy levels. Depression can cause weight loss when not dieting, or weight gain, can result in feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt and can diminish an individual’s ability to think or concentrate. At its most severe, depression pervades every aspect of an individual’s life, making normal day-to-day functioning virtually impossible.

Certain distinctive brainwave patterns are often observed in individuals suffering depression, and these can generally be addressed, and symptoms alleviated, with neurofeedback training. Additionally, nutritional supplementation is usually required.

:: Research evidence

Neurofeedback, as treatment for a variety of psychiatric problems, has an abundance of supportive research evidence.

Recently, a special issue of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America was devoted to emerging interventions concerning brain function. Seven of the ten chapters in the volume included Neurofeedback. The editors, in providing a summary and clinical perspective on all the featured approaches, concluded in relation to Neurofeedback:

“EEG biofeedback meets the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry criteria for clinical guideline (CG) for treatment of ADHD, seizure disorders, anxiety (OCD, GAD, PTSD, phobias), depression, reading disabilities, and addictive disorders.

This suggests that EEG biofeedback should always be considered as an intervention for these disorders by the clinician."