Insomnia can lead to a lower quality of life. Lack of restful sleep can cause a multitude of different symptoms including depression, anxiety, irritability, difficulty concentrating, impaired memory, etc. Poor sleep is also associated with many health conditions such as an impaired immune system, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, and increased risk of Alzheimer’s just to name a few. Currently, the standard treatment for insomnia is pharmaceutical intervention.
At BBHC, we use a combination of neurofeedback, neuromodulation, and neurostimulation to treat insomnia for many of our clients. Neurofeedback is a non-pharmaceutical treatment that works by rewarding the patient for replicating the desired brainwave frequency and therefore guides the brain to a particular brain state. In the case of addressing sleep issues and insomnia, neurofeedback aims to minimize hyperarousal and teaches the client how to reach a deep state of relaxation. After some practice, clients will be able to use this ability to help them fall asleep faster and improve their quality of sleep.
The human brain constantly oscillates between different brain frequencies for a specific environment. For example, the brain will produce more high-frequency beta waves during moments of concentration and task engagement such as studying for a test or performing job duties at work. On the other side of the spectrum, the brain will produce slow frequencies such as delta or theta during moments of deep relaxation, daydreaming, falling asleep, or deep sleep.
Due to environmental trauma, genetics, nutrition, drugs, or just general stress, one’s brainwaves and nervous system can get dysregulated and produce inappropriate brainwaves for the given situation. People with sleep issues will often produce an excess amount of high-frequency beta at night when their brain should be shifting into a more slow-wave relaxed state. With the help of neurofeedback training, patients can learn how to self-regulate and generate more “optimal” brainwave functioning without the need for medications or other treatments.
