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Fear is not even a topic of discussion in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of American psychiatry. Fear is, of course, a normal response of our physiology, but then so are anxiety and anger, which are taken up as topics of interest in psychiatry. An unbounded fear response traceable to early childhood developmental disasters or traumas may be a stealth diagnosis that underlies numerous others (q.v. Trauma). The problem may simply be that the issue is too diffuse to grasp clinically. And of course we have not had a remedy up to now. Diagnoses are often not featured until there is a drug remedy, and then we hear all about it.
Neurofeedback / EEG Biofeedback constitutes a remedy for such an unbounded fear response. We are able to train the child (or adult) nervous system to such a place of calmness and control that the fear response is moderated as well, so that the child is no longer caught up in an undertow of terror, where life is never safe, where no other person can be fully trusted, and where no relationship is fully reliable. One wonders how many people are continually working to "repair" relationships that are in fact continually being undermined at this more basic level.
Fear needs to be brought forward from the underworld of our brain's circuitry, and from the nether regions of our own early childhood experience. Fear is ubiquitous in our human experience, and inordinate, unbounded fear is commonplace in early childhood. This fear has consequences for the learned functioning of our physiology. The long-term consequences are largely detrimental in health terms. And now we can do something about them.
Unfortunately, most individuals are unlikely to be "self-aware" with regard to their own status in this regard, and fear as an explanatory model is not yet widely accepted. Those to whom this makes sense, however, should realize that they don't have to accept their own status in this regard. The fear response is unconditionally trainable.
- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect
Even the brains of children diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome can respond to Neurofeedback / EEG Biofeedback. How much can be accomplished is of course a matter of how much injury has been suffered by the brain initially. However, one feature of this kind of brain damage is in our favor: the damage is largely diffuse within the brain, and that means resources are usually available to promote a higher level of function. In these cases the training will likely have to be conducted over the longer term. That is not to say, however, that quick results are not obtained. The quality of mood, irritability, anxiety and fear, quality of sleep, and attentional function all should respond early on if the training is going to have long-term benefit.
Case Reports
Report from a clinician:
I have been training a little girl diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and insomnia. She also meets criteria for ADHD. She started a year ago, when I first introduced the low-frequency training into my practice. I just kept inching the frequency lower and lower with this highly over-aroused child, and found that she only got better and better. Last Saturday this little girl completed her last session. She is now a happy, well-adjusted 8-year-old who is off all her medications.
Fibromyalgia is known among rheumatologists to be highly treatment-resistant. A variety of medical interventions collectively achieves only modest benefits for a typical fibromyalgia patient. That makes it particularly surprising that Neurofeedback / EEG Biofeedback should be so helpful. Only a small number of studies have been done, but these showed very positive results. Moreover, techniques have been considerably refined since those early studies were done. A multi-faceted Neurofeedback training program is called for in which the objective is first to stabilize brain function; secondly it is to calm the body; thirdly, to normalize autonomic regulation, and with it the pain response.
Despite the improvement in pain sensation and other symptoms such as chronic fatigue, unrefreshing sleep, cognitive fog, and irascible demeanor, one has the sense that Neurofeedback only serves to reduce the symptoms rather than address the causal mechanism. But the functional and quality of life gains are seen as highly worthwhile by clients, as testified to by the fact that there is good compliance with the Neurofeedback training schedule, which is not always the case with other measures.
One of the common features of this condition is that sleep is disturbed. The connection with sleep quality is further strengthened by research that sleep deprivation can lead in short order to fibromyalgia symptoms in normals. Perhaps the effectiveness of Neurofeedback in symptom suppression has to do with the normalization of sleep states. One very common pattern is what is called "alpha intrusion" into the sleep of fibro sufferers. This can be seen as a specific problem, or simply as indicating a profound disturbance of sleep architecture. In any event, a Neurofeedback / EEG Biofeedback strategy needs to take this into account. Often alpha training is helpful in pain management, but it might be contra-indicated in a case of alpha intrusion into sleep.
Similarly, as in other kinds of chronic pain there is a considerable incidence in this patient population of trauma histories. Typically we would want to do what is called "Alpha/Theta" training to address the lingering psychological consequences of early trauma. When the client exhibits alpha intrusion into sleep, this kind of training is more challenging to undertake, and trauma may best be addressed by another method, such as EMDR or hypnotherapy.
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