In 2001, a Harvard Medical School survey revealed that 68% of adults have used at least one form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
Mind-body interventions constitute a major portion of the overall use of complementary and alternative medicine by the public.
In 2002, relaxation techniques, hypnotherapy, and biofeedback were used by more than 30% of the adult U.S. population.
Biofeedback, also called neurofeedback, involves measuring a subject's bodily processes. During biofeedback training, sensors are attached to
the body to detect changes in pulse, skin temperature, muscle tone, brain-wave pattern and other physiological functions. By providing access to
physiological information about which the user is generally unaware, biofeedback allows users to gain control over processes previously
considered automatic. Participants learn to control muscle tension and involuntary body functioning, such as heart rate and skin temperature.
Biofeedback has been used in combination with, or as an alternative to, medication to treat psychiatric disorders such as depression, ADHD, anxiety,
panic, and phobias. For example, a person can learn to retrain breathing habits in stressful situations in order to induce relaxation and
decrease hyperventilation.
There is a large body of clinical research supporting biofeedback as an effective means of treating depression.
Biofeedback has also been beneficial in the treatment of anxiety in a number of studies. It has been successfully used to treat
severe anxiety, such as PTSD in war and torture victims.
A study at the State University of New York in Albany took 45 individuals with generalized anxiety and gave them 8 sessions of
biofeedback. All of the subjects showed significant reductions in anxiety symptoms. The decreased levels of anxiety were maintained at
6 weeks posttreatment.
There have been several studies of biofeedback that have reported encouraging improvements in people with ADHD. Many individuals with ADHD
exhibit low levels of arousal in frontal brain areas. In biofeedback treatment, individuals with ADHD are taught to increase arousal levels in
these regions so that they more closely resemble those found in individuals without ADHD. When this has been learned, improvements in attention
and reductions in hyperactive and impulsive behavior results.
Biofeedback has also been used successfully with eating disorders and addiction.
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Thursday, November 20, 2008
In 2001, a Harvard Medical School survey revealed that 68% of adults have used at least one form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
Mind-body interventions constitute a major portion of the overall use of complementary and alternative medicine by the public.
In 2002, relaxation techniques, hypnotherapy, and biofeedback were used by more than 30% of the adult U.S. population.
