EEG BIOFEEDBACK OFFERS A NON-DRUG ALTERNATIVE FOR ADD/ADHD

Everyone knows that the brain can learn, but did you know it can be trained to pay attention more efficiently? EEG Biofeedback (also called "Neurofeedback") is beginning to attract the attention of therapists and parents across the country as a promising new non-drug treatment to help children with Attention Deficit Disorders (ADD/ADHD).

This childhood disorder has grown in epidemic proportion from one million children diagnosed in 1990 to over four million, at last count, in 1995. Many professionals are concerned that conventional treatment is just not enough to help some of these children.

Biofeedback techniques have been around for decades, but have primarily focused on controlling such functions as blood pressure and muscle tension. Using state-of-the-art computer technology, EEG Biofeedback brings us a step into the future and goes straight to the source of the disorder by teaching the brain how to control itself.

All neurological processes of the brain are conducted through an interaction of chemical and electrical processes ( biochemical/bioelectrical processes). Thus, certain brain functions, including attention, can be measured with sophisticated, electronic instruments such as the electroencephalograph (EEG). Brain waves are generated as a result of biochemical/bioelectrical processes going on in the brain.

Children with AD/ADHD are frequently shown to have maladaptive brain wave patterns on the EEG. They have too much slow wave activity (Theta waves at 4-8 hertz), which is involved in daydreaming, and not enough fast wave activity (Beta waves at 15-18 hertz), which is involved in focused attention and alertness.

EEG Neurofeedback can correct maladaptive brain wave patterns by teaching the child to manipulate his or her own brain wave patterns, decreasing the daydreamer Theta waves and increasing the attention enhancing Beta waves, through the use of special software and computer enhanced techniques which allow the child to monitor his or her progress in a video-game format.

When the brain begins to self-adjust, sleep and bed-wetting problems decrease, energy and memory improves, the child can better focus and stay on task, and hyperactivity and impulsivity significantly drop. The most striking improvement is usually seen in a child's self-esteem. For children who have spent a lifetime feeling they can't do anything right, learning to control their brains can be a powerful motivational force.

Many parents are now seeking alternatives to psycho stimulant drugs, such as Ritalin, which for many years have been the treatment of choice. Concern over side effects, partial effectiveness, potential for abuse, and the daunting prospect of long-term use have prompted many parents to look elsewhere for answers. Whereas, drugs have been effective in treating symptomatology, the underlying causative factor is left untreated—the brain itself. No parent really feels good about having their child dependent on drugs to alter performance. EEG Neurofeedback may offer their child a way to get off medicine and significantly improve behavior and performance at home and at school.